Source: EconLog
by Art Carden
“Over a century ago, John Maynard Keynes, an economist and critic of unregulated, unmanaged markets, pointed to the miracle that one could order the wonders of the world over the phone while lying in bed and have them delivered: ‘The inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such quantity as he may see fit, and reasonably expect their early delivery upon his doorstep …’ … at the time, Keynes described a fantastic privilege reserved for the richest of the rich who could afford phones and phone calls and buy on credit from people they couldn’t see and couldn’t see them. Keynes’s dream has come true in the 21st century for the poor and middle class, and not because of the interventionism he and his intellectual descendants thought was necessary.” (12/26/24)