But the true genius of the market economy isn’t that it produces prominent, highly publicized goods to inspire retail queues, or the medical breakthroughs that make the nightly news. No, the genius of capitalism is found in the tiny things — the things that nobody notices.A market economy is characterized by an infinite succession of imperceptible, iterative changes and adjustments. Free market economists have long talked about the unplanned and uncoordinated nature of capitalist innovation. They’ve neglected to emphasize just how invisible it is. One exception is the great Adam Smith…The brilliance of the market economy is found in small innovations made to polish and enhance existing products and services. Invention is a wonderful thing. But we should not pretend that it is invention that has made us rich.We have higher living standards than our ancestors because of the little things. We ought to be more aware of the continuous, slow, and imperceptible creative destruction of the market economy, the refiners who are always imperceptibly bettering our frozen pizzas, our bookshelves, our pencils, and our crayons.
This is from a wonderful essay by Chris Berg at the Cato Institute. (hat tip: AEI’s Professor Mark Perry)
An inquriing mind asks, has it been human ingenuity seeking financial reward and/or intellectual reward in market economy that has provided great innovations and success in human endeavors, or has there been a movement of God’s Spirit, specifically the Mystery of Christ, operating through providence and appointment, specifically destiny, that is fate, providing the genius for innovation and development, as presented in 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, all within the Economy of God, that is dispensation, as presented in Ephesians 1:10?
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