There are two capitalisms. There is mundane market capitalism and there is political capitalism. Markets regulated by the rule of law and governed by a freely functioning price system are post and beam in the architecture of prosperity. You step into a grocery and there in the freezer are your coveted waffles waiting as if someone knew you were coming for them. But no one is looking after your need for breakfast treats. Each looks after her own needs by looking to the free play of prices and there emerges a rough-but-remarkable convergence of the waffles wanted and the waffles supplied. As the great Adam Smith noted, it seems like magic, but it's not. It's just amazing — in the way the evolution of the eye is amazing.
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Even though I regularly highlight excellent criticisms of Obama's economic policies here on the blog as well on the DIOpinions Twitter account, an increasing number of people who only seem to read the Daily Iowan's main website are asking that I pen a column on these issues. And I suppose I should--even though my field of expertise is not economics. I'll have to think about what specific angle to cover.
