Dry Clothes Are A Capitalist Achievement – Art Carden: Economics Everywhere, for Everyone

It was wet. It was cold. It was miserable.

It was New Year’s Day and we just got home from church and lunch out with friends. Birmingham was a rainy, chilly mess, and it was not the kind of day where people want to spend a lot of time outdoors. As I changed out of my soaking wet clothes and into dry ones, I reflected on how annoyed I was at circumstances that would’ve been a day-to-day occurrence for our ancestors.

That I was dry and comfortable testifies to what Joseph Schumpeter called “the capitalist achievement.” Even most of the poor in Birmingham could be dry and comfortable: this was an even greater testimony to the capitalist achievement. They may not have been as dry and comfortable as I was, just as I was not as dry and comfortable as someone living in a brand-new, very expensive house, but we all share this in common: we have roofs over our heads and we had dry, clean clothes into which we can change.

Free markets are a great leveler. That was particularly evident when I was coming inside on a cold, rainy day.