Walter Williams’ column arguing that capitalism is preferable to Communism wouldn’t have annoyed me except, as usual, faced with any suggestion capitalism isn’t perfect, he ducks and weaves.
Case in point: In explaining why the poor are better off under capitalism, he argues that someone who’s poor in America “whether he has health insurance or not, he is able to obtain medical care when needed.”
Sure. Because E/Rs have to provide it if someone shows up sick. This is wildly expensive and also a very poor way to deal with things like diabetes and heart disease, which are much easier to manage it treated before they get to the emergency point. It’s an inefficient, clumsy way to get medical care, and hugely expensive if you don’t have insurance (been there, done that); and frankly the “socialized” medicine practiced in other countries would seem a better alternative.
Then Williams goes on to explain that our country’s problems “can be laid at the feet of Congress and the White House”—for example, “banks didn’t mind making risky loans and Wall Street buyers didn’t mind buying those repackaged loans because they assumed they would be guaranteed by the federal government … Under a capitalist system, financial institutions would not have been intimidated or encouraged into making risky loans.”
In the first place, even if that were true, wouldn’t the banks be at least as much at fault? It’s not as if the government used Jedi mind tricks.
And in reality, we have multiple first-hand accounts, tape-recorded conversations and records that show that it was indeed capitalism—i.e., an intense desire to make money—that led to some of the meltdown. People who approved lots of dubious loans, knowing they’d get bigger bonuses and better performance reviews. Or that they’d be gone by the time the bill came due.
Apparently admitting that sort of thing isn’t acceptable in Williams’ universe.

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