It’s the economy, stupid
Equality butts heads with freedom
Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith write at Politico that a new debate about first principles and the role of government has replaced the social issues at stake during the “culture wars” of the last three decades.
This dispute over first principles is deeply entwined with questions of national identity and the appropriate role of the government in the economy.
On one extreme is a minimalist state, in which the government is responsible for little more than upholding the rule of law and providing for a common defense. On the other extreme is a socialist state in which the government manages all facets of economic activity.
Neither extreme applies to any industrialized country today. Rather, the modern world is populated by welfare states of various stripes.
Though not by any means laissez-faire, the American economy operates largely on the basis of formal market mechanisms of contract and competition. The economies of many continental European countries tend to embrace more explicit cooperation between labor, business and government, making them a shade or two closer to socialism.
The values embodied by these two different approaches often conflict. Economic freedom may run afoul of equality and social justice.
These tradeoffs become obvious when we look at the facts. European countries have a much lower level of inequality. In the United States, many social problems like our higher rate of crime and lower life expectancy are overwhelmingly accounted for by the very poorest.
Because benefits are more generous, unemployment is less painful in European countries than in the United States. Tougher labor laws insure greater job security. Europeans also work less.
European governments generally provide a much greater scope of “social insurance” for the average person. People are entitled to a generous array of benefits in many areas of life, from education to marriage to child-rearing to health care.
On the other hand, taxes in European countries take a much greater slice of the average person’s income, which on average is also lower than in the United States.
Finally, the European economies in recent years have not grown as rapidly as that of the United States. If this persists, differences in income between the United States and Europe will get wider and wider.
Some might claim that the Obama administration’s programs – healthcare reform, unemployment extension, bailouts, stimulus packages, new regulations, and other expansions of the government’s role in the economy – represent “a slippage toward European-style social democracy.”
Values play a central role in this debate, but not the same “values” that motivated what pundits used to call “values voters.” The question today concerns the role and scope of government in a much more fundamental way than gay marriage, abortion, or illegal drugs.
What is the appropriate balance between economic freedom and other values, such as social justice, equality, and economic security?
-Charles
Image from Flickr user jpellgen used under a Creative Commons Attribution License
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- What if equality and growth were compatible?
- Tea Partyers for Medicare
- Sensitivity and principle
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