Topic: The Differences between Political- and Market-Entrepreneurs
Question: Hayek argues that successful capitalism can lead to its own downfall; when people compare the wealth made possible by free markets to the pre-existing poverty, they tend to argue that the economic system should be changed to improve their conditions, ignoring that it is the improvements provided by this system that made the comparison possible. Does this form the basis for the criticism of the so called "Robber Barrons" of the late 18th and early 19th centuries? Did these people earn their wealth, or do their actions as a whole constitute unjustified interference in the free market?