The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Foreword
• Part I: Can Capitalism Survive?
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Can Capitalism Survive?
• Part II: The Philosophy of Freedom
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Case For Economic Freedom
• Chapter 2: The Libertarian Philosophy
• Chapter 3: Who’s to Blame?
• Chapter 4: Paradise In Posey County
• Part III: On the Nature of Economics
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Adam Smith: 1776-1976
• Chapter 2: Christian Economics: Myth Or Reality?
• Chapter 3: College Economics: Is It Subversive of Capitalism?
• Part IV: On the Business System
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Profits
• Chapter 2: The Businessman
• Part V: On Labor Markets
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Labor Monopoly
• Part VI: On Money and Inflation
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Long-run Economic Outlook
• Chapter 2: Alleged Causes of Inflation: Corporate Monopolies
• Part VII: On the Problems of Cities
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Problems of Cities
• Part VIII: On Education
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Financing Higher Education In the United States
• Chapter 2: The Promise of the College
• Part IX: On What to Do
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Businessman and the Defense of Capitalism
• Chapter 2: Reflections On the Election of 1964
• Chapter 3: The Foundation For Economic Education: Success Or Failure?

Introduction

The two papers in this section deal with selected topics in the general area of “the business system,” which occupies center stage in the drama of capitalist economics.

“Profits” was presented to a group of businessmen and clergy brought together by the National Association of Manufacturers. The meeting site was Bermuda, and the clergymen and professors in the group had an uneasy feeling that they were being “bought” by this choice of site. This uneasiness did not keep most of us from quickly signing our bar tabs against our rooms (as opposed to paying cash). It was here that I was first told by a man of the cloth that even my analysis was un-Christian.

The next paper, on the businessman, was another product of the system then prevailing at Wabash under which students were compelled to attend convocations and faculty members were “urged” to take turns as speakers. Many are the uses of adversity.