CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

Renewing Capitalism 371
poverty, the global gap between rich and poor does not matter. I find this
flawed reasoning, and I would genuinely appreciate an opportunity to debate
this point on neutral ground with any prominent development expert.
The gap limits capitalism, and capitalism properly run can do more for the
poor than foreign aid can ever do.
The following quote struck me years ago: “The traders herein have as
much to plead in their own excuse as can be said of some other branches of
trade, namely the advantage of it. From this trade proceeds benefits far outweighing
all mischiefs and inconveniences, and let the worst that can be said
of it, it will be found with a mixture of good and evil.” This, with minor
punctuation edits, is from a slave trader in the eighteenth century, as
recorded in William Snelgrave’s 1973 book, A New Account of the Slave
Trade. The human plunderer of yesterday has his counterpart in the financial
plunderer of today, each with their rationales. Both debase our humanity.
The most compelling motivation for change is the third—self-interest.
The protection of capitalism is in our interest. Nothing releases human energy
so effectively as incentives operating within free markets. Capitalism, if
we run it right and trust the system, can lift all humanity.
The mechanisms and structures that support falsified pricing and illegal
dealings are designed and used by those who do not trust the system. And
the very rapid rise in illicit and opaque dealings, perhaps now involving half
of cross-border transactions, signals a concomitant loss of faith in legitimate
trade and investment. These are activities that have to rest on a foundation
of trust, and that trust is being badly eroded. Too many practitioners
demonstrate relentlessly that they do not rely on transparent processes to
produce fair returns out of lawfully conducted transactions. Growing distrust
fueled and evidenced by growing subterfuge undermines our economic
system. Indeed, we have lost the distinction between what is legal and illegal,
and in so doing have lost the distinction between what serves the commonweal
and what promotes injustice.
The most threatening condition facing global free markets is the chasm
between rich and poor. Capitalism widened the gap when it powered industrializing
nations ahead, and it must now narrow the gap by bringing developing
and transitional economies along as rapidly as possible. This is not
accomplished with shifts of wealth into western accounts; it is accomplished
by leaving wealth in poorer countries where it can be reinvested, spent, and
multiplied.