[CurlyDave]

Good article on the nearly rich. Describes selfish behavior, i.e. dentists that won't allow others to whiten teeth, colleges that won't accredit video courses over Skype, NIMBY rants against development.

It was a terrible article. Neither the author, nor you have any concept of the science of economics.

What you call "selfish behavior" is yet another example of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" which guides capitalist societies to the maximum possible production of goods and services.

In 1776 there were two events which would shape the world for centuries to come. One, as every American knows, was the Declaration of Independence, the second, which was at least as important was the publication of a book called Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

Smith showed how if each individual is left to maximize his own wealth this will act as an "invisible hand" guiding our entire society in turn to maximize its wealth.

Attempts to squash each individual's ability to maximize his own interests, frequently by shaming these actions as "selfish", always lead to disaster in the long run.

True conservatives know these truths, and understand the consequences of suppressing self-seeking. Look at the fate of the communist block nations to see what happens.

[Yardstick]

Yeah, but he makes a fair point about supper middle class types using force of law to protect their interests. I doubt Adam Smith would approve of dentists using licensing to protect themselves from teeth whitening entrepreneurs.

[SkyPilot]

Neither the author, nor you have any concept of the science of economics.

Science is the study of God's creation and those disciplines that He gave mankind (Physics, Biology, Engineering, Calculus, Chemistry, etc).

No, Economics Is Not a Science

At most, Economics is a Social Science, and today a weak one at that, given the corruption and manipulation that rules it.

Here are some more financial terms (like Quantitative Easing) that these charlatans have dreamed up. They are copied from the hard sciences, and deliberately invented so that they sound authoritative. Notice the words "absolute", "critical", etc. They even employ religious terms such as "covenant."

Absolute Advantage Absolute Auction Absolute Beneficiary Absolute Breadth Index - ABI Absolute Exclusion Absolute Frequency Absolute Interest Absolute Percentage Growth Absolute Performance Standard Absolute Physical Life Acceleration Covenant Acceleration Life Insurance Acceleration Principle Accelerative Endowment Accelerator Theory Convertible Subordinate Note Critical Mass Critical Path Analysis Quantitative Easing Quantitative Easing 2 – QE2 Quantitative Trading Systematic Sampling Wealth Psychologist Objective Probability Natural Hedge N.V. (NV or Naamloze Vennootschap)

It's all a paper thin lie. The Central Banks have manipulated everything, and now we have unstable, debt based currencies. The US Dollars (Federal Reserve Notes and Bank Notes) are "backed" by either taxpayer debt or private debt, and it is all a house of cards. The real problem the last few yeas is that the world's markets have basically been "given" massive, massive amounts of money that were created out of thin air by the Central Banks to "stimulate" the economy. And what backed this transfer of Trillions? Government debt.

My wife studied Economics. She was the college Valedictorian. I was an Engineering undergraduate. She went back to school to become the best nurse in the nation. She would not even spit for those who hold an Economics degree.