Government should intervene to right the economic wrongs of capitalism.

I negate the above resoultion. -------------------------------- FORMAT: Because this debate will revolve around specific points, my opponent will list three 'wrongs' of capitalism that we shall debate specifically and present a case for each. I will in this round present a broad case this round. -------------------------------- CLARIFICATIONS: PRO has B.O.P. This is over economic, rather than social policy. ----------------------------- 1. Government cannot produce wealth unless it owns an industry, and even then that is a monopoly. 2. Capitalism increases wealth for all over time. 3. Income inequality is just. -------------------------------- Quick definitions: capitalism- an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth http://dictionary.reference.com... government- the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc. http://dictionary.reference.com... Wealth- all things that have a monetary or exchange value http://dictionary.reference.com... ------------------------------------------------- 1. Government cannot produce wealth.... Wealth is produced through voluntary trades in which the two parties involved benefit. If one of the parties did not benefit, then it would not have voluntarily engaged in this transaction. During each transaction, more than the party end up benefitting. This is called an externality. When someone agrees to buy a bag of potato chips, the store owner profits directly; however, the gas companies profit because that person drove to make that transaction, the refineries benefit because they refined that gasoline, the scientists who explored for that oil benefit because their oil was used, the company that drilled the oil benefits, the farmer who grew those potatoes benefits, his workers benefit from their wages, the transporter of those potatoes benefits, the factor that made those potatoes into chips benefits, the driver of the truck that brought those chips to the store benefits, etc. The money involved in that transaction is ultimately divided up between many people, all of which benefit from the transactions that got the bag of chips to the buyer and the buyer to the bag of chips. So, in theory, all this wealth reinvests back to the various levels of industry to produce more and (if these transactions were profitable to all [they were, otherwise they wouldn't have happened] ) then more material is produced for transaction than before. So, this individual transaction lead to the production of wealth. Industries and business are involved in these transactions, not government. Taxes are not a voluntary transaction. Neither are tolls, duties or tariffs. The only way government could potentially produce wealth is by nationalizing an industry. In that case, government is a monopoly which controls and rations the wealth among the workers. Wages and prices are not negotiated between the workers and an employer or between the buyer and the seller, but between bureaucrats or politicians. Further, because government industries are a monopoly, there is no competition in the negotiation of price and no alternative choices for the customer. Ultimately, because government is an object of authority, it forces the trade on society. So, government cannot produce wealth. 2. Capitalism increases everyone's wealth over time. From the fundamental explanation of free market economics above, one can conclude that it is not one person that is ultimately benefiting, but the whole of society. Wealth is produced with every transaction. Over time, everyone voluntarily involved in the economy grows wealthier. This has been backed by statistics on many occasions. Writes economist Thomas Sowell, "The average real income per person in the United States rose by 51%" between 1969 and 1996. He sources the U.S. Cencus Bureau, whose website is: http://www.census.gov... 3. Income Inequality is just, for many reasons: -What one puts in, one gets out (input leads directly to output) -Hourly wage is determined by the value of a job -The more people work, the more money they make -People who take higher education can earn more -Entrepreneurs who make more also took initial risks My opponent is sure to contend this point, and I will go into further detail then. ------------------------------- I await my opponent's argument.