Dominant Social Theme: It's official. Free markets don't work very well. Or maybe they work too well. In any case, they need help.

Free-Market Analysis: This thoughtful article that Chrystia Freeland has written for her Reuters' blog presents the conclusions that capitalism is not lifting all boats equally; or, to mix metaphors, technology is proving to be a two-edged sword. Productivity has risen but middle class wages and opportunity have not kept pace.

The conclusion is not hers alone but that of Michael Spence and co-author, Sandile Hlatshwayo. In her blog-article published a few days ago, Freeland reports on their scholarly paper examining the past 20 years of corporate and economic history. In this article, we'll examine Freeland's analysis to try to show how once more how arguments developed in a certain manner inevitably lead to certain conclusions.