A moral infrastructure

The economy, like the rest of society, demands a moral base | Doug Bandow

The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the United States is in economic decline. Jobs are unstable, wages are falling, and only new forms of government intervention can save Americans from a dismal future.

Happily, in the opinion of Richard McKenzie, a professor at the University of California (Irvine), the conventional wisdom is wrong. In The Paradox of Progress he argues--with the help of abundant data--that we continue to enjoy "an amazing historical record of progress that has not, contrary to widespread but mistaken impressions, been broken in modern times."

What makes his book particularly valuable is Mr. McKenzie's interest in morality. He writes that "the economy has a moral, as well as physical, foundation that for segments of society may be crumbling in a slow but relentless rumble." In his view, restoring this moral infrastructure is imperative.