You mean big business is good, contributes to our general welfare, and is not generally guilty–with notable exceptions–of all of the charges made against it? That’s the argument libertarian economist Tyler Cowen makes in his book Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero (St. Martins, 2019) Most NBN listeners will raise an eyebrow to that claim, but most of those same NBN listeners are up for a good back-and-forth on the virtues and demerits of our market system. And to that end, being familiar with Cowen’s arguments–made in this book and his many other publications and platforms–is very useful. The shift in the reputational balance between government and big business as a result of the Covid-19 crisis is another reason to consider Cowen’s argument.
Listen to the NBN interview here