Fallacies Concerning Free Enterprise

Politicians all over the world adjust economic theory to suit their own purposes without consulting each other. This book attempts to identify different opinions which create conflict but which have no rational justification.

For the first five years of my adult life I served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the North Atlantic, the English Channel and the Far East.

After WWII I spent three years at the London School of Economics. I studied economics pure and applied, specializing in International Relations. The full name of the LSE is the London School of Economics and Political Science. That gives the impression that economics and politics are complementary subjects, which was the firm belief of the founders of the school.

For the rest of my working life I was employed by private enterprise corporations and served governments in various parts of the world. I came to the conclusion that economics and politics are not necessarily complementary subjects. Frequently they are incompatible.

Politicians all over the world adjust economic theory to suit their own purposes, without consulting each other. They are so anxious to redistribute wealth that they do not always wait until it has been created. That ameliorates some forms of social stress and exacerbates others. It causes misunderstandings, and in some cases conflict between social classes, political parties, income groups, demographic regions and age levels. International disputes arise which inhibit progress towards globalization.

My book attempts to identify differences of opinion which appear to have no rational justification. I try to resolve the main fallacies in the public mind today, or at least to demonstrate the fact that they exist.

Of course my book will provide no social benefit unless it is read with an open mind.