Larry Van Guilder

Dean's List 07/03/11

Menomonie: Skylar Colvin.

Edgewood College, Madison

Boyd: Lizz Lorentz.

Colby: Bailey Kaiser, Quinn Kaiser.

UW-Oshkosh

Barron: Ashley Homer.

Black River Falls: Ellie Burgau, Hannah Dvorak, Brittany Torkelson, Kyle Vonruden.

Boyd: Kayla Huth.

Chippewa Falls: Ellen Buchanan, Audralynn See, Richard Ward.

Colfax: Abby Johnson.

Downing: Sarah Bundy.

Durand: Kelly Nimke.

Eau Claire: Nolan Fadness, Patrice Martin.

Fall Creek: Gwen Frederiksen.

Fountain City: Andrew Foegen.

Hawkins: Derrick Lashua.

Menomonie: Michael Beaupre, Desirae Beyer, Kenneth Koehler, Leah Stanley.

Mondovi: Jacquelyn Emmerich.

Neillsville: Allison Abel, Megan Hemstrom.

New Auburn: Alyssa Brunner.

New Richmond: Sarah Bygd, McKenzie Kelly.

Owen: Kassondra Batchelor, Kayla Hamm.

Prescott: Joseph Johnson.

Rice Lake: Chelsea Robach, Danielle Robach.

Roberts: Bridget Isnardi.

Taylor: Douglas Leonard.

Whitehall: Bryan Grulkowski.

Woodville: Casey Graf.

Chippewa Valley Technical College

Alma: Amp Lisowski, Dawn Michaud, Kari Serum.

Alma Center: Amber Charneski, Robert Feala, Shane Heller, Nathan Herrick.

Altoona: Rebecca Abernathy, Mitchel Anderson, Althea Bain, Lori Barquest, Angela Beck, Stacey Belch, Chelsea Bennett, Ashley Brantner, Jeanne Bruski, Gayle Dalton, Stan Edington, Corey Englesby, Jake Flater, Bhaskar Gaddam, Sondra Gruenwald, Dawn Hawkins, Caroline Hehli, Anthony Helstern, Ryan Jackson, Samantha Jaeger, Teresa Johnson, Jason Keller, Calli Longsdorf, Ciarra Lorge, Jennifer Loving, Teresa Lueck, Nickol Morgan, Katrina Peterson, Daniel Pillar, Christine Plets, Jenna Ramseier, Sherilyn Rodriguez, Tessa Rose, Amanda Vang, Cassondra Wahlstrom, Daniel Weiss, Thomas Wik Jr., Leah Wilson, Travis Zimbauer.

Arcadia: Matthew Sargeant.

Arkansaw: Kayla Bergner, Kristina Churchill, Deborah Reed.

Augusta: Barbara Bailey, Lindsey Berg, Adam Bergman, Kristy Eckel, Kay Goss, Eric Kampa, Tawnee Montez, Sara Pedicone, Catherine Pettis, Megan Pettis, Jessica Robinson, Jessica Schroeder, Marissa Yule.

Baldwin: Rachel Deringer, Heather, Hadley, Trevor Hadley, Cheryl Harmon, Andrew McFaul, Brittany Moreland, Jennifer Neely, Sarah Nichols, Kimberly Nusberger, Zachary Paul, Aaron Praschak, Bryce Schofield, Melissa Tomczik, Amy Wahlquist, Samantha Wynveen.

Barron: Nathaniel Harmon, Muktar Nur.

Larry Van Guilder - Writings: The "Morality" of Capitalism

Appeared a column entitled " Capitalism exerts moral, accountable influence on business ." While I won't go into detail here, suffice it to say that the writer went to great lengths to argue that capitalism contains an "inherent morality" that works as a self-policing mechanism. I found the conflation of "morality" and "capitalism" to be a ludicrous proposition for a number of reasons, and, disregarding my usual caution concerning letters to the editor, felt compelled to respond. For better or worse, here it is, below. Now that I have my laughter under control, perhaps I can pen a coherent response to Rick Weatherstone's column, "Capitalism exerts moral, accountable influence on businesses." To write, as Mr. Weatherstone does, that "Capitalism has an inherent morality, which is completely missed by the conventional wisdom," betrays, at best, a lamentable misapprehension of the very nature of capitalism, while twisting the concept of "morality" in a way that most, be they economist or ethicist, would find bizarre. . More bluntly, self-interest is the engine that drives capital markets, and consideration of public welfare is, in the current vernacular, a "non-starter." The columnist acknowledges this by noting that, "Investors react swiftly to any threat to their capital and will immediately move it to another investment in which they have more confidence." However, to invest this common sense, self-interested behavior with "morality" is akin to proclaiming leaping from a burning building a "moral" act. It is clear to this writer that the issue is more than semantic quibbling. In the absence of behavioral restraints, "self-interest" can, and quite often does, stray from purely amoral to immoral actions. If this were not so, there would be far less need for the complex governmental oversight of capital markets in place in this country and others. One can measure the philosophical gap between laissez-faire I find it pleasingly ironic that Mr. Weatherstone writes in his conclusion, "Caveat emptor is not a useless platitude." Indeed, and those who seek morality in the mechanics of capitalism should take that wise counsel to heart and equip themselves with the lantern of Diogenes. In the words of Adam Smith, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.