Unpopular view. If Elon Musk has become a trillionaire whilst operating entirely within the law I have no objection. Those who oppose it should really oppose the system not Musk personally.
The US is a mixed economy, as are most European countries. Within that the private sector is encouraged to innovate and grow. And its profits (and the dividends of shareholders) are taxed to fund public expenditure.
We can argue about the system and there are certainly variations to capitalism around the world. The US is one of the most liberal. But even “communist” China encourages a substantial degree of private enterprise. It works.
One of the reasons we in Britain have continuous debate about public expenditure (eg the current guns v butter arguments) is that our private sector, unlike Mr Musk, is not delivering sufficient growth.
Political arguments about the consequences of growth are not new. Mishan wrote “The costs of economic growth” more than fifty years ago and the green lobby today warns of the environmental risks of untrammelled growth. There does need to be a balance.
But, as I say, “Growth is Good” , but the greed that can underpin it needs to be checked. But Elon Musk is not Gordon Gekko! At least I hope not !
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 