Morals & Markets Presents: The Economics of Egoism and Profit

Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., Tuesday, August 27 @ 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET for our quarterly Morals & Markets webinar. This month, Dr. Salsman covers the economics of egoism and profit:

"For more than two centuries, economists have been at a loss to explain profit. Smith, Marx, and the Classical economists (1770-1870) said capitalists profited by unfairly underpaying laborers. Starting in the 1870s Neo-classical economists attributed profit to monopoly power, to firms overcharging consumers, and said that ideally it should be zero in a Platonic “perfect competition” world policed by trustbusters. Profit foes accept the “zero-sum” fallacy and the myth that factors of production create equal value. Disdain for profit reflects a deeper distrust of its ethical essence – rational self-interest. Profit is crucial to capitalism but even in our personal (non commercial) lives we’re rational and right to maximize the benefits versus the costs of our action. On economic, ethical, and personal grounds, profit deserves our unabashed allegiance."

For additional information and in preparation for the event, please review the ABSTRACT which includes links to recommended reading.

Those interested in attending should register HERE. Can’t join us live? Check out the Morals & Markets podcast.