ABSTRACT
A society that values freedom and economic efficiency is bound by reason and history to support capitalism and resist the political distribution of economic resources, if it seeks to create wealth and widespread opportunity. A primary insight of the branch of economics is that the capabilities of each generation of men and women in society are the result of deliberate investments of time, attention, and resources on the part of families, communities, and governments. The rational Right's emphasis on the role of incentives in economic life has become a standard theme in public policy debates over how Government policy must strike the correct balance between economic efficiency and equality concerns. The rational Right has one more argument in favor of capitalism that matters a great deal in a diverse society, particularly one with a long and disgraceful history of racial oppression and antagonism like the United States.
