One of the saddest things about Britain’s recent general election was the level of ignorance displayed by all parties on the broad subject of political economics. I use the term to include both political philosophy and pure economic theory. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Nationalists seem to think free markets are right-wing. The Conservatives appear to have lost all compass, most government ministers believing free markets without government regulation are chaotic, with unscrupulous traders free to rip off consumers. But then all politicians are elected to intervene, so by default they are likely to think that government can improve on free markets.
It is an issue that bedevils politics in all the developed nations, but the roots go back a hundred years. Political extremes in the last century were both socialist. On the left there was communism, a political system where the state takes possession of the means of production for the common good. It was an attractive idea for those who thought of themselves as underdogs in society, envious of their richer neighbours, and who feared the effects of economic change on their own future. They were encouraged to think that the profits capitalists made could be theirs, owned by the state in trust for themselves. The state would organise production and guarantee employment.
This post was published at GoldMoney on June 22, 2017.
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