ABSTRACT
The central feature of capitalism is the market. The wealth of nations, as Adam Smith pointed out, depends upon the market. The buying and selling of goods on the open market creates wealth since it leads to a larger and cheaper aggregate output. In the 1960s, Americans discovered poverty in their supposedly affluent society. Television shattered the isolation of the poor. Living in Appalachia or in the ghettoes of large cities, the poor had interacted only with others like themselves, having little or no contact with the rest of the United States. Recognizing that any new programs had to bypass the dead hand of the welfare bureaucracy, social scientists now advised government officials to include the poor people themselves in the administration of such programs. Television, of course, escalated the disruptions. Community action programs were inaugurated with extensive television coverage, broadcasting promises that raised immediate expectations.
