The Dividend Cafe
The Dividend Cafe
The Bahnsen Group
Ten Economic Principles Worth Fighting For
28 minutes Posted Aug 7, 2026 at 4:48 pm.
Why Principles Matter
Ten Non Negotiables
Private Property
Profit Motive
Division of Labor
Innovation and Progress
Capital and Labor
Laissez Faire
Incentives Matter
Knowledge Problem
Growth Not Zero Sum
Work The Verb
Closing Thoughts
0:00
28:32
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Show notes
Today's Post - https://bahnsen.co/4yXEhxi
David Bahnsen argues investors focus too much on describing or predicting the economy and not enough on prescriptive first principles about what a market economy ought to be. He outlines 10 “non-negotiable” tenets of free enterprise: private property; the profit motive; division of labor; innovation and progress; capital and labor enhancing one another (rejecting a Marxian conflict view); laissez-faire as the default with prudent regulation; incentives matter; Hayek’s knowledge problem and the dangers of centralized planning; an economics of addition and multiplication (growth) over subtraction and division (redistribution/zero-sum thinking), including how his firm invests; and “work” as the verb of economics that animates prosperity and service to others. He warns these principles are being treated as dispensable across modern political discourse, with consequences for portfolios.
Links mentioned in this episode:
DividendCafe.com
TheBahnsenGroup.com