Excerpt
Excerpt
When and Why Did Government Become an Enemy of the People? Jeffry Frieden, June 1, 2012, Paper. “The role of the government in economic life is once again at the center of political controversy. The 1980s saw a wave of liberalizations, privatizations, and deregulations in the advanced industrial countries, followed by an even stronger wave in the developing world and, eventually, in the formerly centrally planned economies. By the 1990s a middle ground appeared to have been achieved, combining lighter regulation and more private enterprise with a strong social welfare state. The crisis that began in 2007 has called this consensus into question. Some indict radical free-market policies and irresponsible deregulation; others blame overweening government intervention and an overgrown welfare state. Current conflicts should not obscure the fact that there is a general intellectual consensus about the role of the state in advanced industrial economies. Apart from extremists on both sides, modern thinkers and politicians accept that government is responsible for a range of public goods, including economic and social infrastructure, public health, education, and financial and monetary stability …” Link