Having read the FT since the 1980s, I have the impression its defence of capitalism has weakened. It was therefore heartening to see Martin Wolf come out to defend, not only democracy, but also free-market capitalism (Life & Arts, January 21).

He correctly lays bare two main pain factors that have weakened the system — the share of finance in gross domestic product that has grown far beyond its contribution and the increasing monopolisation in many sectors. These failures should be addressed. Plutocracy has to be reined in. That would make the income distribution substantially less unequal and weaken the case for more wealth taxes as proposed by the author.

But there exists an important third pain factor: the growth of a myriad of special regimes granted by governments to particular groups. That led to a degeneration of the economic system. Or an infringement of the level-playing field. The incorrect political reasoning here has often been that a privilege granted to some (say employees) justifies the provision of another privilege to others (say employers), whereas in reality two negative-sum games are involved.

Wolf outlines a list of proposals to improve the working of the system. While they are well taken, a number of crucial ones should be added, like the work ethos, the culture of free will and own responsibility, the savings ethos and the related wisdom to basically live within one’s means. These characteristics should also be taken into account in any properly designed welfare system. Because rights should be balanced by duties.

While the table has been set by capitalism, one should worry about anti-capitalists deciding on who gets invited to take a seat.

Frank Boll
Rotselaar, Belgium