An Interview with Deirdre McCloskey

Capitalism- an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

• McCloskey has many interesting points about how capitalism works within our society and about how economics works within our society. 
• McCloskey echoes Rizzo's points about how economics is a tangled web of individuals' choices; therefore economics is always changing and growing as society grows and changes. McCloskey says we can look at the economy as two different stories. One as a story of "brutal greed" the other "as a story of cooperation, we celebrate it and the working lives it is made up of." 
• Later in the interview McCloskey says, "A capitalist at her pretty good best is humble." He then goes on to talk about McDonald's and Wal-Mart which are two cooperations that many people are hostile towards. McCloskey says that these hostile opinionated people "...do not have the tight budget that goes so much further at McDonald's or Wal-Mart." I connected this with Rizzo's points about how the poor in America today are better off than the rich in history. Although poor, there are many cheap food options now and McCloskey argues that capitalism is in favor of the poor. 

This article made me think about how everything and everyone plays a part in the economy which is now presented to us as a society.  Politically there are many sides that people look at economy from, McCloskey in particular criticizes the left wing, but this got me thinking that many people don't think about their individual impact on the economy. For example, by purchasing trifling goods and enjoying the benefits that come from not just the purchase but the emotional benefits is something that has completely transformed our society and economy as we know it.

McCloskey's line, "Lovers leave, friends move away, riches get spent. And then what? If your life plan consists of accumulating SUVs and antique houses and young lovers, what is the point?" got me thinking, what is the point? What do my trivial purchases and opinions say about me as an individual, and most importantly what is the point? What do you think the point of all of this is?