Alistair
I don't think that George was suspecting you of 'cynicism'.
No, I didn't suppose that he was but thought I ought to try to be clear (something that I'm not so confident that I've done in this one so far!)...
When he talked about optimism and pessimism he was referring to the economic theory of wealth creation.
Yes, I realise that.
If you take that into account then it's fairly naive to suggest that 'every time someone wins in business, someone else loses out' - that's a very short-term way of looking at things.
I didn't mean to suggest that such losses were irrevocable or even necessarily damaging in the longer term - merely inevitable as the direct consequence of competition.
And (this in response to your most recent post, which I've just seen) that's not 'how it is right now'. Most economists would view capitalism as a system which enables wealth creation, wouldn't they? (Rather than just wealth transfer, which is how you seem to be viewing things.)
They would indeed - and I would agree, of course; I certainly don't see capitalism as mere wealth transfer, although that is a constituent part of it, I think. Indeed, without wealth creation, there IS no capitalism, is there? - not a sustainable one, anyway...
In any case, as someone else said, the fact that one business might succeed at the expense of another is hardly the same as the very important, if difficult to tackle, subject that Ian brought up of money gained from exploitation and slave labour. Your assertion that
all that can be checked ... is whether and when criminal activity or civil law breaches might be involved
seems to me only to highlight the problem rather than, as you seem to imagine, offer a solution which would allow us all to sleep soundly at night.
Agreed on both counts. Firstly, the results of competitive tit-for-tat in business are certainly not the same issue as that of wealth created on the backs of exploitation and slavery; the former is inevitable on the current capitalist system, the latter is not so and is repugnant. Secondly, the matter of monitoring and addressing whether and when law breaches occur in business conduct highlights the problem rather than offers comfortable solutions, as you say; this is because, whilst it is necessary to attempt such policing, its successes can never be guaranteed, especially since what is legal in one country may not be in another.
Best,
Alistair
