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On Apr 23, 3:05 am, "Ed Huntress"


So now we're basically stranded with a neoliberal model that's just
taken it in the shorts.
--
Ed Huntress

I think I understand why the four day work week did not happen. But I
do not understand why we are " stranded with a neoliberal model."

That's an opinion on my part. As a highly developed country, we are stuck
(according to most economists, liberal and conservative) with a need for
open, if not free, trade in the Ricardo model of comparative advantage. That
model says that we benefit by having no import restrictions, even if the
countries we trade with have tariffs and non-tariff barriers. Anyone
interested can look this up; it's too much to explain here.

On top of that, and despite our financial meltdown, we're stuck with a
minimal level of restrictions on business. This is a relative thing but ours
is one golden goose that can be killed with little effort. With our current
need for economic growth, no one in his right mind is going to vote for more
than minimal regulation, except, perhaps, on non-bank finance.

We also cannot afford a lot of restrictions on business in regard to labor.
One thing that has saved our butts in recent decades is our extreme labor
and capital flexibility. We dig out of most troubles by adapting quickly.
We're better at that than anyone.

All of these things are components of the neoliberal economic model. To a
large degree we're locked into it, because of the stage and size of our
economic development, and because of the fierce competition we face from
low-wage countries.

To break out of it we'd have to cover almost everything at once -- a
political impossibility right now. Obama is caught between a rock and a hard
place on this because he *needs* to put heavy restrictions on finance (or
we'll just crash again), but he can't break up our current neoliberal model
for a variety of reasons, the need for comprehensive, simultaneous change
being first among them.

What this administration appears to be doing is to try to whack off the
roughest edges of injustices and economic divisions without assaulting the
basic model. It may be a pipe dream; once you have a fundamental ideology at
work, it's difficult to bend it without meeting huge resistance. And he has.

That's pretty sketchy but the details would keep us going for a year or two,
and I just had another birthday that reminds me I'd better start making
better use of my time. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress