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Tomorrow, Capitalism: The Economics of Economic Freedom
Book by Henri Lepage
- GenresEconomics
254 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
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62 people want to read
About the author
Henri Lepage
10 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Henri Lepage est un essayiste libéral français. Son livre Demain le capitalisme a contribué à diffuser en France les idées libérales.
Henri Lepage is a French liberal essayist. His book Demain le capitalisme ("Capitalism Tomorrow") helped spread liberal ideas in France.
Henri Lepage est un essayiste libéral français. Son livre Demain le capitalisme a contribué à diffuser en France les idées libérales.
Henri Lepage is a French liberal essayist. His book Demain le capitalisme ("Capitalism Tomorrow") helped spread liberal ideas in France.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 12, 2024
A FRENCH LIBERTARIAN ENDORSES CAPITALISM AND FREE MARKETS
Henri Lepage (born 1941) is a French libertarian economist. He wrote in the Introduction to this 1978 book, "The aim of this book, though, is not to offer the reader a course of lectures on the development of contemporary economic thought but rather to attract general attention to a major intellectual and scientific renaissance---one that is challenging many of the political dogmas on which Western democracies have relied for their economic policy since World War II."
He states early in the book that if the West is "sick," and if our rivers are becoming sewers and our cities uninhabitable, if poverty and misery survive despite the overall rise in the standard of living and attempts at wealth distribution, "it is not because our society is capitalist but because it is not and never has been capitalist." (Pg. 24) He argues that economic growth is inseparable from capitalism and from modern "propertarian" society. (Pg. 45) He suggests the England and the Netherlands enjoyed a rising standard of living because those areas had evolved a system of institutions and property rights that encouraged individuals to allocate capital and energy to socially useful activities, such as economic projects. (Pg. 70-71)
He asserts that there are three "built-in disadvantages" of public action: (1) The absence of competition, which "eliminates the pressure on officials to minimize production cost"; (2) Overproduction of services, as "the logic of government enterprise is to produce more of a public good than society wants"; (3) Ineffective control over the bureaucracy, which in turn creates "An inaccurate conception of the public good," "Overconsumption," and the fact that the bureaucracy "absorbs more resources than the real value of the services it renders to society at large." (Pg. 99-101)
In response to the question of what long-term policy ought a conservative or libertarian movement propose to the nation, his reply "was and is brutal and simple: none. I believe that the less economic policy we have, the better off we will be. I have no faith in economic policies." (Pg. 203) He concedes that capitalism in its present form "is not the most just society possible, but suppressing capitalism and the market economy will make society less just than it has been." (Pg. 211)
He concludes on the note that "economic freedom seeks to give the greatest possible number of people the maximum chance to choose their own way of life, within the constraints of resource scarcity... according to each individual's particular structure of desires and without any value judgment about the choices made by each individual or group, so long as they do no encroach on the freedom of other individuals or groups to choose their own lifestyles." (Pg. 212-213)
Although these opinions are "old hat" to American libertarians and free-market advocates, they sound refreshing coming from a Frenchman. This book is still a very interesting read for modern students of free markets.
Henri Lepage (born 1941) is a French libertarian economist. He wrote in the Introduction to this 1978 book, "The aim of this book, though, is not to offer the reader a course of lectures on the development of contemporary economic thought but rather to attract general attention to a major intellectual and scientific renaissance---one that is challenging many of the political dogmas on which Western democracies have relied for their economic policy since World War II."
He states early in the book that if the West is "sick," and if our rivers are becoming sewers and our cities uninhabitable, if poverty and misery survive despite the overall rise in the standard of living and attempts at wealth distribution, "it is not because our society is capitalist but because it is not and never has been capitalist." (Pg. 24) He argues that economic growth is inseparable from capitalism and from modern "propertarian" society. (Pg. 45) He suggests the England and the Netherlands enjoyed a rising standard of living because those areas had evolved a system of institutions and property rights that encouraged individuals to allocate capital and energy to socially useful activities, such as economic projects. (Pg. 70-71)
He asserts that there are three "built-in disadvantages" of public action: (1) The absence of competition, which "eliminates the pressure on officials to minimize production cost"; (2) Overproduction of services, as "the logic of government enterprise is to produce more of a public good than society wants"; (3) Ineffective control over the bureaucracy, which in turn creates "An inaccurate conception of the public good," "Overconsumption," and the fact that the bureaucracy "absorbs more resources than the real value of the services it renders to society at large." (Pg. 99-101)
In response to the question of what long-term policy ought a conservative or libertarian movement propose to the nation, his reply "was and is brutal and simple: none. I believe that the less economic policy we have, the better off we will be. I have no faith in economic policies." (Pg. 203) He concedes that capitalism in its present form "is not the most just society possible, but suppressing capitalism and the market economy will make society less just than it has been." (Pg. 211)
He concludes on the note that "economic freedom seeks to give the greatest possible number of people the maximum chance to choose their own way of life, within the constraints of resource scarcity... according to each individual's particular structure of desires and without any value judgment about the choices made by each individual or group, so long as they do no encroach on the freedom of other individuals or groups to choose their own lifestyles." (Pg. 212-213)
Although these opinions are "old hat" to American libertarians and free-market advocates, they sound refreshing coming from a Frenchman. This book is still a very interesting read for modern students of free markets.
February 13, 2014
C’est un plaisir sadique que de lire des bouts de l’œuvre (je n'allais quand même pas m'infliger plus de 400 pages de chimères) d’un homme qui a défendu le néo-libéralisme, qui s’est retrouvé être un précurseur dans son pays. Puis de voir à travers la déconstruction des Etats dans les années 90-2000 et sa conséquence - l’interminable crise de 2008 - qu’il s’est trompé comme tous ses condisciples et qu’il est aujourd’hui, à un vieil âge, condamné à passer le restant de sa vie à défendre son modèle qui s’effondre sous ses yeux. En atteste le titre de son dernier ouvrage : Crise financière, crise du libéralisme ?
Vie et mort des courants, des idées. Il était précurseur. Il a sûrement influencé nos politiciens. Mais l’histoire économique l’a condamné à l’oubli ou pire, à le mettre au banc des coupables. Monsieur Lepage, j’ai de la pitié pour vous. C’est déjà vous excuser en partie. Puis-je au moins vous accorder le courage d’y avoir crû et d’avoir été un précurseur. L’essentiel, c’est de participer ?
Vie et mort des courants, des idées. Il était précurseur. Il a sûrement influencé nos politiciens. Mais l’histoire économique l’a condamné à l’oubli ou pire, à le mettre au banc des coupables. Monsieur Lepage, j’ai de la pitié pour vous. C’est déjà vous excuser en partie. Puis-je au moins vous accorder le courage d’y avoir crû et d’avoir été un précurseur. L’essentiel, c’est de participer ?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews