It's called a mixed economy, stupid

Government, especially in perilous times, must do what private enterprise can't do, won't do, and perhaps should not be asked to do

The Straight Goods Cyber Forum
with Larry Solway

Commentary:

  You stunned me! I dare suggest that government DOES have a part to play in our lives, and people who believe with a kind of devout passion, that only private business could make things work, torpedoed me with their comments. I suspect you folks have also clung to the notion of Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and Jack and Beanstalk. You have every right to your childish fantasies.
  You are held in thrall, besotted by the vision of sugarplum corporate fairies dancing in your head. You are delusional. You echo only what some very major forces in society insist is the ultimate truth. Only a couple of weeks ago Reguly in the Globe (and I respect his journalism if not his insights) remarked casually "Most people believe private business can do a better job than government." In his world "most people" live by Report on Business. But I don't want to keep kicking a wounded horse.
  Somewhere we have lost our sense of social order. We have lost it willingly to the evangelists of "fiscal freedom," which is just another way to say, "we all hate paying taxes." The evidence from south of the border is shocking. President Bush proclaims that in the spirit of individual rights every citizen has a better idea of what to do with his money than the government. Restore to the people the right to do what they please. Shallow and satanic.
  It is Ayn Rand Objectivism at its Atlas Shrugged worst. In the name of personal freedom, we back off our obligation to be part of a social organism through which we address the problems of society.
  Last week we learned that the president of Enron had called, not once but several times, the under-secretary of The Treasury to get him to intervene on Enron's behalf with the lending institutions. He hoped the under secretary would ask them to extend credit. The Bush guys say they declined to help.
  But this is the same Bush who during the campaign, said, "Americans know better than government what to do with their money." It's this kind off hands-off, less-government-is-better-government, that had Bush telling Americans that they knew where to put their life savings.

Heeding George Bush's market-driven advice, thousands of Enron employees saw their I.R.A savings accounts vanish. So much for the primacy of corporations who, after all, know far better than government how to run (ruin?) things.

  So, heeding his market-driven advice, thousands of Enron employees saw their I.R.A savings accounts vanish. So much for the primacy of corporations who, after all, know far better than government how to run things.
  Enough politico-philosophical bafflegab.
  Government, especially in perilous times, must do what private enterprise can't do, won't do, and perhaps should not be asked to do. Private capital goes where they can get the biggest bang for the buck. Our government recognizes this reality. Which is why in many cases they subsidize private business to let them do necessary R&D which otherwise would not show any short-term profit. It's called, for those who balk at any government interference, a "mixed economy."
  There is little immediate profit in the construction of a high-speed rail link to run Toronto-Kingston-Ottawa-Montreal-. Long-term it means fewer cars and less money spent on highways. It brings us increased safety. It contributes to the enlargement of commerce. But it is an investment in the future.
  Short-term is will create thousands of jobs which will add to national revenues. But for those neo-cons who wrote to me last week, you may never understand, but government spending - whether it adds to the deficit, or stalls tax cuts - will represent a long-term saving for all of us.
  Business understands that it must invest today for a better tomorrow. Government is in place to do just that and answer to its shareholders - that's you and me.
  I am glad we live in a country with a mixed economy, although that notion is gradually disappearing. Only the tragic events of September 11th, which didn't cause the recession, but magnified and focused it, could bring us to our senses.
  Suddenly we realize that government does have a part to play. Notice that immediately on the heels of the WTC disaster, help came, not from General Motors or from Bill Gates, but from the public service. There is no profit in carting off thousands of tons of debris. There is no profit in a government shaking itself out of a daze and realizing that only government-controlled surveillance will work. Private companies like Wackenhut, which run surveillance for profit (they also run for profit- jails that have been closing in disgrace), has been judged for what they are: profit-first, service-last companies.

I don't blame private enterprise for wanting a profit. But I DO blame governments for failing to provide the people guarantees, jobs in time of recession, and spending before tax cuts.

  But hey - I don't blame private enterprise for wanting a profit. That's why they're there. But I DO blame governments for failing to provide the people guarantees, jobs in time of recession, and spending before tax cuts.

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