Milton Friedman explains where pencils come from, and, oh golly, it’s not by the benevolence and ingenuity of government bureaucrats.
This is apparently something of an old warhorse, and I’m ashamed I haven’t run across it before.
Exercise for the student: his first line is, “Look at this lead pencil. There is not a single person in the world who can make this pencil.” From that, extrapolate the rest of his comment.
Via the New Paltz Review’s pointer to Adam Fleisher’s City Journal review of Alan Beattie’s False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World.
That review also highlights Fleisher’s example of Egyptian Wheat:
When trade is free, says Beattie, mutually beneficial exchanges can “take resources from places of plenty to places of scarcity.” His best example concerns Egypt and grain. Today, the country imports about half of its wheat, while in ancient times it served as the breadbasket of Greek and Roman civilizations. Back then, the infrastructure of global trade of course did not exist. But now, because the market for grain is not geographically limited, it makes no sense for relatively arid Egypt to grow so much of a crop that requires substantial amounts of water. So, writes Beattie, what Egypt is really doing is “importing millions of tons of the water” used to grow wheat.
Of course, this passage will whap any SF fan right between the eyes by reminding us of Robert Heinlein’s retelling of the American Revolution, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. [My copy appears to be in storage, so excuse the summary from memory.]
Earth’s moon colonies, which started as penal colonies ala Australia, are essentially slave plantations used to grow wheat for Earth. A revolutionary agitator explains that this is destroying the lunar economy: The water is mined as lunar ice, used for industry, for drinking, and for toilets. Toilet waste is then used to water and fertilize the hydroponic fields. The water, and the fertilizer, is then shipped to Earth as wheat. The water and the fertilizer represent irreplaceable resources for the moon, but are in plentiful supply on Earth. This downhill bloodletting is what triggers the revolution.
Speaking of Milton Friedman, here’s another linchpin video clip, on the power of “Greed” to generate freedom, from an interview with Phil Donahue:
Again, this is something of a chestnut, but at least I’ve seen it before. Still, one of those things everybody should be exposed to, if only so they can argue against it.