The noble path that leads to profits

“The idea that markets can foster moral growth is more controversial – despite a growing body of evidence that this is the case”

Not so very long ago, Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), and the generation coming up after them (“Zoomers”), were lambasted for being politically disengaged and apathetic. Now the criticism emanating from conservative circles is more likely to be that they’re fomenting a Maoist cultural revolution, shutting down debates they dislike, harrying folk with the wrong views out of their jobs, making Jeremy Corbyn leader of the Labour party, screaming: “How dare you!” at insufficiently green global leaders... and so on. Surveys show that this is not a product of the fevered imaginations of crusty old reactionaries, as a report by Kristian Niemietz for the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) revealed earlier this year. “Younger people really do quite consistently express hostility to capitalism and have positive views of socialist alternatives of some sort,” says Niemietz. Around 40% of Millennials, for example, agree with the statement that “communism could have worked if it had been better executed”. Seventy-three per cent of young people agree that capitalism