![]() This setup, however imperfect, has allowed nation after nation to rise to affluence over the past 60 years. The key institutions here were the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (now the World Trade Organization), and the grouping of political leaders known first as the G-7, then the G-8. It happened because the United States and its allies designed a system that encouraged it. The triumph of free enterprise around the world since the end of World War II was not a fluke. The same goes for global economic governance. ![]() Which may still happen, but it will involve hard political choices. The architects of the euro hoped that the reality of the currency zone would force the political and economic changes needed to make it work. Europe unified its money without unifying its economy, and that’s not sustainable. And the euro’s current troubles are the fault of a design flaw, not of the governments or markets per se. ![]() Yes, creating the European currency required government action, but many of its most eager advocates were free marketeers. Capitalism doesn’t bring widespread prosperity under all possible circumstances it needs effective governance and institutions to deliver the goods.Ĭonsider the euro. To a certain extent, this marks the victory of free enterprise-private property and profit are key elements of any conceivable solution to today’s problems. The most important choices today aren’t between government and free enterprise they’re between political and economic systems that work and those that don’t. For most other purposes, though, it feels pretty retro. This Manichaean view still resonates in political circles, particularly in the U.S., and even more particularly among Republicans on the campaign trail. They were battles for the commanding heights. It used to be that most of the world’s big political and economic questions could plausibly be framed as struggles pitting government against free enterprise.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |