The structures of the new world are falling into ruin by lack of discipline and an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power. The flawed archetypes of crony capitalism arch our government systems by empowering politicians and bankers to extend their influence beyond the norm.

How does the new world foster an autodidactic class of self-sufficient law-abiding citizens while remaining tractable, capable of allowing markets to flourish rather naturally? Are free-market doctrines démodé?

I found this article to be a thoughtful argument in favor of big government.



http://www.economist.com/news/speci...ld-secret-their

quote:

The World Values Survey, which has been monitoring values in over 100 countries since 1981, says that the Nordics are the world’s biggest believers in individual autonomy. The Nordic combination of big government and individualism may seem odd to some, but according to Lars Tragardh, of Ersta Skondal University College, Stockholm, the Nordics have no trouble reconciling the two: they regard the state’s main job as promoting individual autonomy and social mobility. Any piece of Nordic social legislation—particularly the family laws of recent years—can be justified in terms of individual autonomy. Universal free education allows students of all backgrounds to achieve their potential. Separate taxation of spouses puts wives on an equal footing with their husbands. Universal day care for children makes it possible for both parents to work full-time. Mr Tragardh has a useful phrase to describe this mentality: “statist individualism”.

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Except, if you read the article, you'll notice their governments have progressively slimmed down over the last decades, and the key idea is not supporting (or avoiding) big government, but being pragmatic about it.

There's nothing wrong with the idea of free market. Big government is fine as well, as long as you treat both ideas as starting points and keep trying to find some balance. The problem lies in people believing they know the solution a priori, and then blindly arguing for it.

Learn to read:

quote:

Pragmatism also explains why the Nordics are continuing to upgrade their model. They still have plenty of problems. Their governments remain too big and their private sectors too small.

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I would buy Winston a thesaurus for christmas every year.

I'll send you a postcard from Norway.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lagrangian Learn to read:

...

quote:

On discovering that the old social democratic consensus was no longer working, they let it go with remarkably little fuss and introduced new ideas from across the political spectrum. They also proved utterly determined in pushing through reforms. It is a grave error to mistake Nordic niceness for softheadedness.

Which is pretty much what I said. Now, before telling others how to read, I assume you've done your research yourself, and you read the other articles by the Economist on this topic this week, where you can find the following paragraph:

quote:

Since then the Nordics have changed course�\mainly to the right. Government�fs share of GDP in Sweden, which has dropped by around 18 percentage points, is lower than France�fs and could soon be lower than Britain�fs. Taxes have been cut: the corporate rate is 22%, far lower than America�fs. The Nordics have focused on balancing the books.

[Source]

So, yeah, my reading skills are fine, thank you. You might want to practise a bit yourself

there are as many millionaires in the US as there are people in norway. lol

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You make a valid point, albeit naively. In your post you don't really exemplify your points with specific examples from the actual economies at hand. Norway's long-term social democratic policies have been studied extensively. The statehood ownership of essential industrial sectors of great importance such as petroleum (Statoil), hydroelectric energy (Statkraft), aluminum (Norsk Hydro), etc. Have proven that 'Big Government' works in Norway.

My original questions remain invariant, can we take the 'Nordic models' as stalwarts of economic policy, with highly progressive Income and value-added taxes? Or, shall the Nordic economies such as Norway tame their governments so as to adopt a more Austrian model, if you will?

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quote:

Originally posted by Spacey Orange there are as many millionaires in the US as there are people in norway. lol

1 Million USD

JPY | ¥92.82 million (Japanese yen)
EUR | euro733100 (euros)
GBP | £637000 (British pounds)
CNY | yuan6.227 million (Chinese yuan)
CAD | C$996600 (Canadian dollars)
MXN | $12.61 million (Mexican pesos)

Source: Wolfram-Alpha

{*Food for thought.*}

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I make almost 10k a week. Too bad it isn't a respected currency.

*brag brag brag brag*

Silver.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lagrangian 1 Million USD JPY | ¥92.82 million (Japanese yen) EUR | euro733100 (euros) GBP | £637000 (British pounds) CNY | yuan6.227 million (Chinese yuan) CAD | C$996600 (Canadian dollars) MXN | $12.61 million (Mexican pesos) Source: Wolfram-Alpha {*Food for thought.*}

i'm a fvcken iraqi millionaire and i don't have to listen to your shit.

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quote:

CECIL RHODES ONCE remarked that “to be born an Englishman is to win first prize in the lottery of life.”

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