What Might Real Financial Reform Look Like? | 17 comments (17 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

In many respects, back to the early 1900's ... (4.00 / 3)

... and late 1800's, the development of worker co-ops, credit unions, and regulation of the anti-social consequences of monopoly economic power.

Given the dramatic range of actions that must be performed by government if we are to pursue development of an ecologically sustainable economy, I am very wary of pushing for government to take on activities that it could but need not perform.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Oct 19th, 2008 at 05:40:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: In many respects, back to the early 1900's ... (none / 1)

the amount we need governing is in inverse proportion to our responsiblity.

the more civic-minded we are, the more we can make government 'go away', not by drowning it in the tub, but by making it redundant through breaking up its work more down to the local level.

i don't see that happening till the price of travel reflects reality, and people really have to pay attention to their neighbourhoods, not just use them as stepping stones, or rest stops.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Oct 19th, 2008 at 05:54:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Of course, that is not making government ... (none / 1)

... go away, any more than bribing low-income nations to surrender their sovereignty on cross-border flows of wealth is "making government go away" ... its shifting the level at which the government is accomplished.

And, yes, I have a strong bias in favor of accomplishing those tasks locally that can be accomplished locally, on precisely the same grounds ... there is quite a bit that national government must due, and any complex social institution has limits on the range of things it can do and do well. Some of the things that national government must do are quite literally life and death tasks. So to my mind, the more tasks that can be successfully and equitably off-loaded, the better.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sun Oct 19th, 2008 at 08:30:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Of course, that is not making government ... (4.00 / 2)

the more tasks that can be successfully and equitably off-loaded, the better.

Education might be a good place to start, starting with "No Child Left Behind," aka "no test provider left behind."

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sun Oct 19th, 2008 at 11:05:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

What Might Real Financial Reform Look Like? | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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