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Golf and Capitalism

This week Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy became the number one golfer in the world.  This reminded me of Armen Alchian's 1977 editorial in the Wall Street Journal,  where he posed the question why is golf solely found in capitalist societies?  He argued that
"Golf's ethic, principles, rules and procedures of play are totally capitalistic.  There are antithetical to socialism.  Golf requires self-reliance, independence, responsibility, integrity and trust.  No extenuation is granted misfortune, mistake or incompetence.  No second chance.  Like life, it is often unfair and unjust, with uninsurable risks.  More than any other sport, golf exploits the whole capitalist spirit."  
You can read Alchian's entire WSJ oped piece here.  Notably, a recent empirical study in the Atlantic Economic Journal provides support for Alchian's thesis.


  

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