America’s standing as the world’s largest economy, with a reputation as a hub of innovation and as a land of opportunity, owes much to its system of free-market capitalism. Economic freedom has lifted more than one billion people out of poverty worldwide. And yet, there continues to be skepticism about capitalism in the U.S., where people blame economic freedom for everything from COVID-19 to the fire in the Gulf of Mexico.
Trust in capitalism has especially diminished among young people, to the point where capitalism and socialism are equally popular. While the reasons for such skepticism are varied, Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser has hypothesized that the young are reacting negatively to policies that favor entrenched interests (crony capitalism) and that they favor “hyper-redistribution” rather than true socialism. Others have argued that students are being influenced by left-wing professors who dominate American college campuses.
We wanted more than a hypothesis. So in order to gain insight into young people’s views, we surveyed 1,000 college students at 71 four-year college and universities across the country. And what we found was surprising.
Continue reading at Newsweek.
Clay Routledge, PhD, is the Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute. As a leading expert in existential psychology, his work focuses on helping people reach their full potential and build meaningful lives. Follow his work @clayroutledge and subscribe to his newsletter, Flourishing Fridays.
John Bitzan is the director of the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth at North Dakota State University.
Culture of Flourishing
America’s standing as the world’s largest economy, with a reputation as a hub of innovation and as a land of opportunity, owes much to its system of free-market capitalism. Economic freedom has lifted more than one billion people out of poverty worldwide. And yet, there continues to be skepticism about capitalism in the U.S., where people blame economic freedom for everything from COVID-19 to the fire in the Gulf of Mexico.
Trust in capitalism has especially diminished among young people, to the point where capitalism and socialism are equally popular. While the reasons for such skepticism are varied, Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser has hypothesized that the young are reacting negatively to policies that favor entrenched interests (crony capitalism) and that they favor “hyper-redistribution” rather than true socialism. Others have argued that students are being influenced by left-wing professors who dominate American college campuses.
We wanted more than a hypothesis. So in order to gain insight into young people’s views, we surveyed 1,000 college students at 71 four-year college and universities across the country. And what we found was surprising.
Continue reading at Newsweek.
Clay Routledge
Clay Routledge, PhD, is the Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute. As a leading expert in existential psychology, his work focuses on helping people reach their full potential and build meaningful lives. Follow his work @clayroutledge and subscribe to his newsletter, Flourishing Fridays.
John Bitzan
John Bitzan is the director of the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth at North Dakota State University.
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