corporate cronyism, 3, 18, 64, 149
corporate taxes
high, 104–106, 167
loopholes in, 171
reduction of, 144, 157, 168–169
See also taxation
Council of Economic Advisers, 62
culture of envy, 56, 60
culture wars, 8
Current Population Survey, 61
Daily Caller, 84
Declaration of Independence, 10, 25
defined benefits vs. defined contributions, 165
Democracy in America (Tocqueville), 134–135
democratic capitalism. See capitalism
dependence, 15–16, 30–31, 39–40
discretionary spending, 156–157
dissatisfaction, 3–4, 9–10, 97
Dodd-Frank Act. See Consumer Protection Act
earned success
fairness and, 50–51
free enterprise and, 33, 41, 147–148, 173–175
happiness from, 24–26, 31
measurement of, 27–28
sacrifice and, 35–38, 175
work ethic and, 31–35, 55–58
Easterlin Paradox, 21
Easterlin, Richard, 21
Easterly, William, 74
Eastern artistic approach, 113–114
economic efficiency, 9, 45, 116, 166
Economic Freedom Index, 74–75
economic growth
charity and, 86
declining, 108–110, 142–143
facts regarding, 142–143
moral argument for, 141–142
opposing strategies for, 143–144
policy measures for, 144–147
in social democracies, 101
elderly. See senior citizens
employer contributions, to health premiums, 170–171
Employment Impact Statement, 151–152
entitlement programs
core principles, 159
facts regarding, 158–159
moral issue of, 157–158
President Johnson and, 99–100
reducing, 10, 153–154, 155–156
spending increases and, 101
See also welfare states
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Finance and Business (Rogers), 37
entrepreneurship
choice of, 173–175
economic growth from, 62
government encumbrance of, 143–144
happiness associated with, 19–20
heavy taxing of, 104–106
job creation and, 147–148
sacrifices/failures of, 36–37
envy, 18, 56, 60
epistemic error, of materialism, 28
equal opportunity, 58–59. See also opportunity society
equal outcomes, 47–48
estate tax. See taxation
Europeans
charity and, 82
happiness of, 35
income redistribution and, 59–60
work attitudes, 33–34
externalities, 122–125
failure, entrepreneurship and. See entrepreneurship
fairness
definitions of, 47–48
income redistribution and, 51–52
moral value of, 45–47
ultimatum game, 48–50
Fannie Mae, 39
Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, 165
Federal Housing Administration, 98
federal income taxes. See taxation
Federal Reserve, 98
Federal Trade Commission, 98
federal workforce, 150, 157
food aid programs, 118
food stamps, 99, 118
The Forgotten Man (Shlaes), 99
Fortune 500, 124
Fox News, 117
Franklin, Benjamin, 114
Freddie Mac, 39
free enterprise
aiding underprivileged, 88–89
charity and, 81–85
choice of, 173–175
conversion to, 17–18
criticisms of, 68–69, 80–81
earned success and, 33, 41, 147–148
economic growth and, 77–80, 143–144
embrace of, 96–97
evidence for success of, 72–76
features of, 6, 33
income inequality and, 45
materialistic/moral arguments, 8–10
moral basis of, 10–12, 14, 18, 64–65, 172
undermining of, 7, 97
See also capitalism
freedom, moral issue of, 10–12
Friedman, Benjamin, 141–142
Friedman, Milton, 48
Fromm, Erich, 31
Gallup Poll, 19
GDP (gross domestic product)
charity linked to, 86
entitlements and, 158
federal debt relative to, 106–108, 153
government spending and, 5, 101–102, 153
historical perspective, 70, 71
Korean, 74, 75
life expectancy and, 75–76
necessary growth of, 142–143
policy uncertainty and, 146
General Motors, 39, 63
General Social Survey, 16, 21–22, 25, 29, 55, 83
generosity. See charity
good luck. See luck
Good Samaritan parable, 67–68
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 14
Gordon, Robert, 61
government
aiding underprivileged and, 89
dissatisfaction with, 3–4, 9–10, 97
flood insurance and, 39, 118
income redistribution and, 63, 82–84
limiting involvement of, 137–138, 174–175
role of, 64–65, 115–116
safety net, 116–119, 174
government intervention
in externalities, 122–125
in information asymmetries, 126–128, 129
limiting charity, 87–88, 136–137
market failure justifying, 128–132
in monopolies, 119–122, 129
in public goods, 125–126, 129
government spending
cuts to, 153–157
economic growth and, 108–110, 145–146
increase in, 5–6, 101–102
government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), 39
Great Depression, 98–99
Great Divergence, 70–72
Great Society programs, 97, 99–100
Greece, 6
green jobs initiatives, 150
gross domestic product. See GDP (gross domestic product)
growth. See economic growth
Haidt, Jonathan, 44, 46
happiness
charity and, 86–87
in earned success, 24–26
of entrepreneurs, 19–20
job satisfaction and, 34–35
money and, 20–24, 28–30
pursuit of, 10–11, 20
Hayek, Friedrich, 5, 116
Head Start program, 99
health care premiums, 170–171
health care reforms, 7, 164–165
health insurance companies, 127, 129
hedonic treadmill, 23–24
helplessness, learned. See learned helplessness
Henrekson, Magnus, 108
high-speed rail, 129
homeless shelters, 88, 118
housing crisis, 129, 144–145
ILO (International Labour Organization), 108
immigration
earned success and, 56–57
policy reform, 146–147
immorality, of welfare system, 15–16
income. See money
income inequality
exaggeration of, 61–62, 78
free enterprise and, 45
redistributive fairness, 48, 51–52
income mobility, 53–57
income redistribution. See redistributive fairness
Industrial Revolution, 70–72
information a
symmetries, 126–128, 129
intellectual property, 120–121
International Labour Organization (ILO), 108
intervention, government. See government intervention
Japan, post–World War II, 21
Jefferson, Thomas, 10, 11, 15, 52, 115, 116
job creation
core principles, 148–149
government growth and, 150
government intervention in, 151–152
moral argument for, 147–148
unemployment statistics, 148
unionization and, 150–151
job satisfaction, 34–35
Johnson, Lyndon B., 97, 99–100
Johnson, Robert, 27
Kipling, Rudyard, 64
Korea, 74, 75
Lady Gaga, 120–121
Laffer Curve, 168–169
Laffer, Arthur, 168
learned helplessness, 15–16, 30–31, 39–40, 175
life expectancy, GDP and, 75–76
Lincoln, Abraham, 57
loans, housing, 145
Locke, John, 10–11
Losing Ground (Murray), 15
lotteries
state government, 121–122
winners of, 22–23
lower class, 57, 82, 88–89
luck, 53, 55–56, 58–60
Madoff, Bernie, 69
male midlife crisis, 29
Mao Tse-tung, 73, 113
Marcus, Bernie, 36, 37
market failures
externalities, 122–125
government intervention in, 128–132
information asymmetries, 126–128, 129
monopolies, 119–122, 129
public goods, 125–126, 129
social capital for, 132–134
The Market for ‘Lemons’ (Akerlof), 127
Mason, George, 10
materialism
falsity in, 28–30
Founders’ shift away from, 11
free enterprise and, 8–10
McGovern, George, 57–58
Medicaid
appropriate function of, 118
excessive expense, 100, 163
reforming, 164
Medicare
appropriate function of, 117
excessive expense, 100, 164
facts regarding, 158–159
reforming, 155–156, 164–165
merit, in ultimatum game, 50–51
meritocratic fairness
defined, 47–48
embrace of, 63–64
example of, 50–51
luck vs., 58–60
moral foundation of, 52–58
Microsoft, 120
middle class, 57, 117, 118, 161
Milwaukee Co-operative Milk Producers, 40
minimum safety net, 116–119, 174
Mischel, Walter, 37
money
earned by poorest citizens, 76–77
happiness and, 20–24
measurement of success, 27–28
materialism and, 28–30
unequal distribution of, 51–52
world distribution of, 72
money-back guarantees, 128
monopolies, 119–122, 129
moral arguments
economic growth, 141–142
entitlement programs, 157–158
of Founders, 10–11
free enterprise, 8–10
job creation, 147–148
national debt, 152
rational justification for, 44–45
reactions to, 44–45
Soviet Union, 14
tax code reform, 166
Tunisian revolution, 12–13
welfare reform, 14–16
The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (Banfield), 135
mortgage interest, 170–171
Murray, Charles, 15–16
Nader, Ralph, 84
National Bureau of Economic Research, 38, 122
national debt
core principles, 153–154
discretionary spending, 156–157
entitlement reduction, 155–156
facts regarding, 153
federal workforce and, 157
history of, 4–5
increase in, 106–108
moral issue of, 152
national defense, 125
National Flood Insurance Program, 39
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), 98, 151
National Palace Museum, 113
National Recovery Administration (NRA), 99
NBC News, 96, 102
negative effects, of welfare system, 15–16
New Deal, 97, 98–99
New York Times, 7, 30
1984 (Orwell), 25
Novak, Michael, 72
Obama, Barack, 27, 39–40, 103, 115–116, 129, 144, 149, 150, 151, 156, 166, 170
ObamaCare, 4, 7, 132, 146, 149
Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, 3, 39, 45, 61, 79–80
Ohio State University, 25
Okun, Arthur, 62
opportunity cost, 80–81
opportunity society
America as, 53–58
economic growth for, 142
moving away from, 60
See also equal opportunity
Orwell, George, 25
Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 54
Pelosi, Nancy, 47–48
Perry, Mark, 53–54
policy measures
for economic growth, 144–147
impact on employment, 151–152
pro-union, 150–151
poverty
economic growth and, 142
free enterprise and, 72–74, 76–77, 80
prescription drugs, 117, 118
price fixing, 120
price inflation, 161
productivity
capitalism and, 9
earned success and, 31–33
penalizing, 31, 104–106, 166
redistribution and, 62–63
profit, in earned success, 24–25
progressive taxation. See taxation
property, 10–11
prosperity
charity and, 85–86
opportunities for. See opportunity society
pro-union policies, 150–151
public goods, 125–126, 129
punctuality, 83–84
punishments, taxation as. See productivity
pursuit of happiness, 10–11, 20, 29, 40, 41, 142
Putnam, Robert, 136
rational justification, for moral reactions. See moral arguments
Reagan, Ronald, 14, 99, 107
redistributive fairness
charitable donations and, 82–83
defined, 47–48
disconnection from merit, 59–60
experiment in, 51–52
language of morality and, 9
unfairness of, 61–63
reform
entitlement, 153–154, 155–156
health care, 7, 164–165
Medicaid, 164
regulatory, 145
Social Security, 160–162
tax code, 144, 146, 151
welfare system, 14–16
regulatory barriers to business, 104–106, 143–144
retirement
raising age for, 160
savings, 162
rewarding merit. See meritocratic fairness
road to serfdom
for Americans, 5–6
factors leading to, 7
The Road to Serfdom (Hayek), 116
Rogers, Steven, 37
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 15, 97, 98–99
Rubio, Marco, 69
sacrifice
in earned success, 36–38
welfare state and, 38–40
safety net
necessity of, 9, 51, 64, 89, 116, 174
appropriate function of, 116–119, 159,
reform of, 158, 161, 162
Schumpeter, Joseph, 27
&
nbsp; Schwab, Charles, 36
selfishness, of collectivist views, 81–85
self-sufficiency, 16
Seligman, Martin, 30
senior citizens
adequate care for, 162
Medicare and, 164–165
Social Security and, 118, 158, 161
Sherman Antitrust Act, 120
Shlaes, Amity, 99
Sidi Bouzid, 12
Sixteenth Amendment, 101
Smith, Adam, 11–12, 23, 62, 119, 120
social capital
in America, 134–136
government funding and, 136–137
market failure and, 132–134
social democracies
economic decline in, 108–110
features of, 100–101
penalizing productivity, 104–106, 166
potential of, 5–6
shift toward, 97
See also collectivist views
social engineering, 114, 132, 167
Social Security
facts regarding, 158–159
limiting, 96, 117, 118
reform of, 155–156, 160–162
Retirement Earnings Test, 162
social status, 34
Solyndra, 150
soul, of work, 31–33
Soviet Union, 14
Spanish Socialist Workers Party, 101
Spain, 6, 89
SSI (Supplemental Security Income), 118
Stalin, Josef, 25
Standard Oil, 120
statism
eroding social capital, 136–137
free enterprise vs., 6
morality and, 9
negative effects of, 88–89
shift toward, 97–100
stimulus
package, 4, 132, 148, 150, 151
spending, 63, 86, 98, 143, 173
stock market crash (2008), 3
stress, 16, 85, 87, 122
subsidiarity, 137
subsidies, 145, 150, 156–157, 171
success
earned. See earned success
sacrifice in, 36–38
Supplemental Security Income (SSI), 118
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), 118
Tame Duck (Kaufman), 40–41
Tax Foundation, 103
taxation
American vs. European, 34
complexity of tax system, 167
consumption, 171–172
core principles, 167–168
corporate. See corporate taxes
estate, 57–58
facts regarding, 166–167
federal income, 101, 102–103, 144
loopholes, 170–171
measuring success and, 26
moral issue of, 166
penalizing productivity with, 104–106, 166
personal reductions, 169–170
progressive, 102–104, 160
redistributive fairness and, 48
reforming, 144, 146, 151, 157, 168–172
in social democracies, 100–101
social security and, 160
unearned punishment, 31
taxi medallions, 121
Tea Party rally, 3
teenage unemployment, 147–148
Telefónica, 121
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), 118
Thatcher, Margaret, 107
The Home Depot, 36
The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Smith), 11
The Road to Freedom Page 20