More than a century ago, economist John Maynard Keynes, a critic of unregulated and uncontrolled markets, pointed to the miracle of being able to order the wonders of the world over the phone from your bed and have it delivered to you.
While drinking their morning tea in bed, a Londoner can order over the phone any amount of the earth’s produce as he sees fit, and reasonably expect it to be delivered quickly to his doorstep. I was able to do that.
This is from Keynes’s 1919 book, The Economic Consequences of Peace, in which Keynes wrote that at the time, people who could afford to make phone calls, who could not see or see their faces, could make purchases on credit. He described the great privileges that were only available to the wealthiest people. they are invisible.
Keynes’ dream has come true for the poor and middle class in the 21st century, but not because of the interventionism he and his intellectual descendants thought was necessary. You can get anything you want with just a few flicks of your thumb. With some planning, you can automate much of your grocery shopping through Amazon’s subscription deals and similar services. Payment processing, orders, etc. are all automated and transparent.
Paper towel? You can subscribe. chocolate? coffee? Shaving gear? Subscription box services are replenished monthly. Those with higher incomes may have it easier, but subscription boxes and subscribe-and-save services are widely available and affordable to just about anyone.
At this point, someone is probably scoffing and saying: “My life has meaning because I get my groceries delivered.” If that’s you, you’re hoping the market will do something for you that it can’t. Bananas and spring rolls can also be delivered at the market. It cannot bring any existential meaning. Even if you can support Amazon employees, you may feel oppressed by buying more products from Amazon.
Ace Christopher Fryman pointed out on twittereven today’s poor people are richer than the Rockefellers in every way that matters. What’s the point in Elon Musk being able to wear a Rolex on both wrists if you can get a cheap digital watch? Elon Musk’s net worth could be many times more than mine But his $200 billion net worth can’t buy him a smartphone or mobile service that’s hundreds of thousands of times better than mine.
A little later in the passage quoted above, after describing the economic opportunities for Londoners, Keynes continues:
But most importantly, I consider this situation to be normal, certain and permanent, except in the direction of further improvement, and any deviation from it is abnormal and scandalous. I believe that this is something that can be avoided. The programs and politics of militarism and imperialism, racial and cultural conflicts, monopolies, restrictions, and exclusions, which served as snakes to this paradise, were but his daily entertainment; It seemed to have almost no effect. Its internationalization was in fact almost complete, without any impact on the normal course of socio-economic life.
I wish this life of peace and prosperity could become a reality for everyone, no matter where they are. But there’s also good news. It is shifting in that direction as we embrace bourgeois agreements and (ironically) reject calibrated Keynesian macroeconomic management.
Art Carden is a Professor of Economics and Health Property Trust Fellow at Samford University.
