Capitalism and Markets: Enablers of Civilization

Quote of the Day, related to the post below about the rising middle class in India:

When markets and human values work together, the gains are immense. The market economy and capitalism are among the greatest enablers of civilization. Our lives are comfortable instead of wracked with hard physical labor, chronic malnutrition, and massive losses of women and babies during childbirth, to cite just a few features or earlier times.

Imagine a time traveler from the eighteenth century visiting the life of Bill Gates. He would witness television, automobiles, refrigerators, central heating, antibiotics, plentiful food, flush toilets, cell phones, personal computers, and affordable air travel, among other remarkable benefits. But the most impressive features of Gates's life, from a historical point of view, are shared by most middle-class Americans today.

~From George Mason economist Tyler Cowen's book "The Inner Economist"