All we need is greed?

Dum da da da da. . .

Well, Jeffy this just in. . .
Uncovered by Politico.com: proof positive that the sitting American President is clearly not a socialist (see "White House: Greed Will Help"). So Obama, Summers, and company seem to be hinting that it is a great time to start buying stock. After all, prior performance is not always a good predictor of future growth--wink, wink.

But can the invisible hand really save us? When you look at Jon Stewart's seething indictment of Jim Cramer and all that CNBC stands for, it is hard to imagine that the same set of incentives that got us into this mess could be our saving grace. Clearly, the invisible hand apparently has no inner moral compass in determining winners and losers (even though, ironically, the invisible hand is a reference to God made by Adam Smith to help float the idea of a society arranged by markets, but I am sure you are tired of me telling you that).

So how do we ensure that greed will be used for good and not for evil? It just doesn't seem possible, after all, it is one of the seven deadly sins you know. But greed is a powerful incentive capable of inspiring new ideas and innovation. Often times more powerful than laws, bureaucrats, and warm-fuzzy ideologies. In addition, greed, like absolute power, is too dangerous to go unchecked. However, any limitation alters its power as an incentive.

So how to proceed?

Well, I think (oh, baby, you are going to love this Jeffy) maybe greed should be like a civil right. The right to pursue happiness for the sake of greed if you will. And just like civil rights, your right to greed should end at the end of my nose. In the context of a market, when people are pursuing their own self-interests, the only time we will get an optimal outcome is if no one individual can overpower anyone else. Greed is in check. The only problem is that, driven by greed, the ultimate goal for individuals in the market is to overpower it (i.e. control the price). Therefore, if we stick with this market system, instability will always be with us. Considering the fruits of capitalism (efficiency, innovation, basically lots of really cool material goods for cheap), is this worth it?

Ball is in your court Jeff-o.