Incentives matter . Private ownership promotes responsibility and cooperation. Trade creates wealth. Profits direct businesses toward activities that increase wealth.
Competition increases efficiency and innovation.
Taxation and regulation discourage production and destroy wealth . Political decision-making favors plunder over production. Central planning wastes resources and retards economic progress. Competition is a source of discipline in the market, or in any social organization for that matter. Producers who are earning profits for the time being can rarely afford to rest on their laurels.