More From Less

I call technological progress, capitalism, responsive government, and public awareness the “four horsemen of the optimist.”

it possible to profitably grow while taking less and less. In the Second Machine Age, that has changed.

In 1977, Stigler published in the normally staid Journal of Political Economy his article “The Conference Handbook.” It grew out of his frustration at how often discussions at economics conferences kept going over the same topics. So Stigler proposed shortening these repetitious conversations by replacing the sentences heard most often with numbers

four “pillars of economic freedom”: rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets.

closely to Acemoglu and Robinson’s definition of inclusive institutions. Key to both are the notions that most people have the opportunity to advance and flourish, that they have a fair shot in the marketplace, and that they get to keep what they earn and build.

“Inequality is not the same thing as unfairness;

As an economy concentrates, many social ties are inevitably broken as companies, jobs, and work disappear from regions.

shape incentives

“voice and accountability” and “control of corruption,”