Game-Changing Advances in Human Freedom

Last Fall, in the closing weeks of the election, Judy Shelton spoke prophetically in her article, "A Capitalist Manifesto" in the WSJ, Oct 13, 2008. Here we are, eight months down the road from her review of Nicolas Sarkozy's call for global reform, and her discussion of the principles that define honest capitalism - the values that define the character of individuals and should underpin the legitimacy of governments.

She quoted Sarkozy, speaking before Congress last November, "America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who -- with their hands, their intelligence and their heart -- built the greatest nation in the world: 'Come, and everything will be given to you.' She said: 'Come, and the only limits to what you'll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your own talent.'"

Shelton drew a picture of our history in her warnings of the future...

"You know that America's founding economic philosophy is in deep trouble when candidates for our nation's highest office refer easily to "Wall Street greed" and "predatory lenders" to explain the global financial crisis. And those are the Republicans.

"Where are the champions of free-market capitalism? Someone needs to remind us all that two great works were published in 1776, both representing game-changing advances in human freedom: The Declaration of Independence, authored by future American president, Thomas Jefferson, and "The Wealth of Nations" by Scottish economist Adam Smith. Both embrace the social wisdom of individual liberty; both extol the importance of personal responsibility.

"...If we are to build a new foundation for global financial and monetary relations...we must summon the intellectual depth and political will that can only derive from a strong sense of moral purpose."