… is from page 119 of the 1962 Gateway edition of University of Georgia economist David McCord Wright’s unfortunately forgotten 1951 book, Capitalism (emphasis original; footnote deleted; link added):
The mistake often made here – as in so many social controversies – lies in the idea that, if we abolish the particular type of inequality with which we happen to be familiar, we thereby abolish all inequality. But as [John] Hicks and [Albert] Hart point out, what do we accomplish by diminishing inequality of income if at the same time we increase inequality of power. And it must be remembered that power advantages no less than money advantages may be transmitted (however unofficially) from one generation to another….
In short we do not have a choice between a world of equality and one of inequality. We have only a choice between different kinds of inequality.
The mistake often made here – as in so many social controversies – lies in the idea that, if we abolish the particular type of inequality with which we happen to be familiar, we thereby abolish all inequality. But as The post Quotation of the Day… appeared first on Cafe Hayek.