One of the key criticisms of capitalism is that it creates more inequality than other systems. That may or may not be true. The effective inequalities among elites and citizens in the former Soviet bloc were gigantic. That, however, is beside the point. The fundamental worldwide economic problem is poverty. The history of the development of market economies in the past 50 years is unparalleled in human history, witnessing a decline in poverty, by any plausible measure, that no other system can achieve. There are no examples of socialist systems solving problems of poverty, though there are many examples of socialist systems causing or perpetuating poverty of the most abject sort.

For a complete list of speakers, topics, and dates of the Free Markets: The Ethical Economic Choice speaker series visit heritage.org/free-markets.