• Question: What is the best economic system?

    Asked by 626spcn52 to Andrew, Hina, Ian, Kathryn, Leah-Nani, Xu on 12 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows

      Kathryn Burrows answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      I have no idea. But one that is fair and encourages trade seems like a good guess.

    • Photo: Ian Jones

      Ian Jones answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Here’s an engineering answer! … In engineering we make great use of something called “control theory”. It’s the mathematics of negative feedback systems. Just imagine trying to ride a bike with your eyes closed. It just wouldn’t work. So we use negative feedback to look where we are going and to make corrections as we go. The amount of the correction can be accurately modelled in mathematical functions and programmed into computers.

      Economists (or governments) try and do the same thing with the economy. If one part is going too fast or too slow, they use feedback mechanisms (usually interest rates and taxes) to make those changes.

      Maybe if some more engineers could become economists they might learn more about the feedback systems and do a better job? What do you think?

    • Photo: Andrew Margetts-Kelly

      Andrew Margetts-Kelly answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      It’s a very difficult to answer question; capitalism demonstrably isn’t best, there is definitely something better to be found. If your interested in economics my recommended reading list to start you off is
      Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (capitalism)
      Marx & Engles, The Communist Manifesto (a critique of capitalism)
      E F Schumacher, Small is Beautiful (a critique of infinite growth reliant capitalism)
      —
      I think the best economic system will be one that promotes collaboration and harmony while at the same time removing the need to pointlessly work endlessly. No economic model that has been used before has ever achieved this. I think Schumacher is onto something though; this is a good basis to start from I think.

    • Photo: Leah-Nani Alconcel

      Leah-Nani Alconcel answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Hard to say. Most of them eventually seem to produce a wildly unequal society, such as the one we have now, in which wealth is concentrated with a very small number of individuals. We (humans) don’t seem to have come up with a robust way of redistributing wealth fairly yet.

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