Hillsdale College provides a unique service by offering (through the mail and on the internet) their Imprimis publication. In the March, 2006 issue, Steve Forbes offered his take on what he called "The Great (and Continuing) Economic Debate of the 20th Century." He wrote:
"The great economic debate of the twentieth century was between collectivists and free-marketers. In one sense, the free marketers won: When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it was widely acknowledged that Soviet socialism had been a catastrophic, not to say murderous, failure. But in another sense, the debate continues. Democratic capitalism still has not vanquished the idea of collectivism. Far from it. . . .
The reason that the great economic debate continues into the 21st century, despite the proven superiority of free markets in terms of delivering prosperity, is because of the misperceptions that keep democratic capitalism from capturing the moral high ground. Dispelling these misperceptions should be our priority as we carry on that debate in the years ahead.
In this speech/article, Forbes does a good job dispelling those misperceptions. He offers here a great primer on capitalism's strengths (including moral strength) and superiority over other systems. His "five basic principles of economic growth" need to be understood by supporters and critics alike: 1) Individual equality before the law 2) Property rights 3) Low taxes 4) making it simpler to launch legal businesses (i.e. get bureaucracy out of the way) 5) free trade