It seems Fareed Zakaria has. Responding to Mitt Romney's observation that some cultures keep their people in poverty, Zakaria says it's not culture but capitalism that makes for prosperity. Pointing out that Japan and China were once thought inherently backwards because of their culture, Zakaria says: "Had Romney spent more time reading Milton Friedman, he would have realized that historically the key driver for economic growth has been the adoption of capitalism and its related institutions and policies across diverse cultures." Milton Friedman's now a hero for a mainstream pundits like Zakaria! It's about time. Of course, it would be nice if our media types actually listened to him. Japan and China had cultures that led them to pick the most authoritarian Western models before they tried capitalism--the first because of our military success and the second because it lucked out in inheriting British Hong Kong. Today there is no doubt that the cultures in Islamic nations account for...(Read Full Post)