Do Our Economic Policies Suck?

Economic policies are designed to enhance access to wealth and power. They're often purported to be discovered by a brilliant economist using math to prove a theory. And once such a theory is "proven", it's treated more as science than what it really is, a made up version of the world by an individual or individuals having their own bias – an answer in search of a question. This is what I've learned reading The Rebel Accountant's new book, Money Mania.

I'll admit it: I'm a skeptic. My personal default is to assume the game is rigged. Most of my career has been about ignoring the big questions (they are a distraction) so I can remain focused on the prize, maximizing my own results within whatever system I'm handed. I've not been ruthless but I've also not been especially contemplative. Money Mania forced me to consider some of the more prominent economic theories of the past century. It's hard to come away feeling like they didn't suck. Take Milton Friedman's 1970 argument that a company's only job is to grow shareholder profit. That idea pushed executives toward short-term wins over long-term strategy, and the result was often worse products, disengaged employees, and unhappy customers. A failed approach that did the opposite of what it was designed to do (e.g., it decreased shareholder value).

Here's the thing, economic rules aren't discovered, they're made up. Usually by the people who already have the most fortune and power. However they may be packaged, whatever massive benefit they proclaim to offer society, they were created to benefit a select few.

I've thought about my own career in Darwinian terms. It's always been me against everyone else. In my distorted version of my own economy, when things go well, it's because I've optimized my situation better than most. When things go badly, I've hit the limits of my resources. But I've rarely paused to consider the game itself.

Now we're at a moment of real consequence. A handful of world powers, individuals, and corporations hold the keys to AI, and AI will reshape everything. It may be the most economic power ever held by so few.

I'm a capitalist at heart. I want to believe in free markets. But Money Mania forced me to sit with how unevenly those markets spread their benefits, and to wonder if "free" mostly means free from government intervention, free from rules that would otherwise ensure broader distribution of benefit. All this so that a relatively small group can enjoy massive wealth and power.

Here's my takeaway: it's not enough to keep my head down and optimize for my own family. I must do better, to be mindful of the bigger picture. No, I won't be able to influence economic policy. But I can influence the small world of my economy. I can treat others better and strive to create opportunities for others in all that I do. Maybe that's how we make economic policy suck less.