How can a wise man fail to see this connection? Jonathan Haidt, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, suggested at one of the AEI panels that critiques of capitalism thrive because “we judge people based on their intentions. And when people do something for us without intending to help us, we don’t tend to give them much credit.” In other words, the “invisible hand” of the markets gets no respect.

If capitalism’s morality is judged not by intentions but by measurable outcomes, there’s no question it’s more humane than anything Marxism has produced. As capitalism has spread over the past 200 years, global per capita income has increased more than tenfold. Average life expectancy has more than doubled, according to the HumanProgress.org, a website that collects data on global living standards. That’s to say nothing of railroads, planes, cellphones, air conditioning, antibiotics, the Internet and dramatically improved educational opportunities for boys and girls. Meanwhile, the most memorable entry on Marxism’s scorecard is nearly 100 million deaths from genocides, extrajudicial executions and man-made famines.

But comparisons of outcomes distract from an essential point: the inherent morality of free markets. Riches do not come from exploitation or at the expense of others, but a “spiral of mutual gain,” high-tech investment guru George Gilder explains in “Wealth and Poverty.” He writes: “Far from a system of greed, capitalism depends on a golden rule of enterprise: The good fortune of others is also your own.”