Andy Stern, writing in the Wall Street Journal, covers familiar ground. They do things better elsewhere. Give up, America: adopt a foreign ideology. His title/subtitle combo — “China’s Superior Economic Model: The free-market fundamentalist economic model is being thrown onto the trash heap of history” — provides a grand example of passive voice construction allowing evasion of the crucial elements: Who throws what away?
First, the what: “The conservative-preferred, free-market fundamentalist, shareholder-only model” described as “so successful in the 20th century” . . . with no discussion, absolutely none, as to what extent our business life is actually run by this “model.”
“Shareholder only”? Some of the biggest businesses in the U.S. are privately held, not publicly traded. Not a few huge and influential enterprises, like the absurdly mismanaged postal service, the disruptive Fannie and Freddie, and the morally bankrupt Federal Reserve are government-created and not public in the shareholder-model sense. Add in taxes, regulation, and a perpetual deficit government budget, backed by the inflationist Fed, and the truth pops up exactly opposed to Stern’s: America’s a very mixed “mixed economy.”
In this context, who holds to “free-market fundamentalism”? A number of people, almost exclusively on the outs. The richest and most powerful insiders work against free markets, no matter what they say. Hence bailouts, subsidies, and a whole lot of “planning.”
China may be “blessed” with a huge population aiming to get ahead and with a government that runs budget surpluses, while we are cursed, primarily, with continuous deficit financing of the federal government, and everything that entails.
The solution? Reassert the model Stern wants to chuck.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “Trash Heap Economics”
Wow!
That IS common sense.
(apparently not common in lib/prog circles)
The notion that we can learn something from another county, city, state, or government is interesting.
One would think there is the “best” way to do something. But here in the USA we will have none of that.
We pride ourselves as rugged individualists. We will blaze our own tail, even if there is a new freeway 10 feet away going in the same direction.
Why do we continually re-invent the same wheel?
On nearly every subject there are already various solutions. Clearly some solutions better than others.
I would suggest defining what is the best solution and starting with it. Then “maybe” modify it to raise to another level.
The only trouble with my thought is that the greedy in this country are only interested in profit. Therefore, “modifications” will be made only in the interest of increasing profits. This includes politicians who legislate for their own gain.
The hand in hand of politics and big business is sick. I swear they are sucking this country dry: all the time shouting, “it is the freeloaders who are destroying us”.
Don’t get me wrong. I think people should enjoy the fruits of there labor. But that does not mean after pillaging the village they can now rape the women.
The little guy who dreams of making a million dollars thinks he is on the same playing field as the big boys, the billionaires. This is a fools game. The little man will “never” win. If he did, the big boys would have to lose. That is not going to happen.
Note: The big boys have the serious money and they are not going to lose it or give it away. You can take that to the bank. All they want is more than they ever had before.
This country is all about the rich getting richer.
Bernie Madoff arise! Oh, you are already everywhere. Sorry.
Government is bought by the big company monopolistic who collude with the politicians to regulate little competitors out of the market. THAT is sick.