It is common these days for those who feel “exploited by the system” to lash out at capitalism as the cause of their economic woes. When their complaints are examined, however, what stands out is not anger at an actual free-market capitalist system, but frustration with the prospect of an almost insurmountable economic system of privilege based on cronyism. In many parts of the globe, aspiring entrepreneurs, willing to work hard and full of ideas and energy, start out against a stacked deck because they lack political or family connections.
To get ahead based on sheer merit and hard work, citizens of any country need a system that maintains non-discriminatory markets and impartial credit allocation, as well as rewards for individual success. That is the recipe for economic freedom—and for the opportunity to escape poverty and build lasting prosperity. Yet in far too many cases the future Sam Waltons, Ray Krocs, and Bill Gateses of the world are trapped in systems dominated by cronyism and corruption, where those with special access to government favors or information and those who already enjoy monopoly power dictate pricing and conditions of service, often becoming extravagantly rich in the process, while denying millions of their countrymen that very same access.
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