Suchergebnisse

Bryan Gould draws on his experience as a leading British politician and as a lawyer, academic, diplomat and television journalist to explain why the political and economic doctrines that have dominated the western world for three decades have meant that western countries have found that their democratic governments no longer serve them well.

The global financial – and now economic – crisis has demonstrated that markets, and particularly financial markets, are not self-correcting and that, if left unregulated, they will inevitably overreach themselves and lead to excess. Governments have a duty to regulate markets in the public interest but where (as in the case of recession) markets produce adverse outcomes, governments also have a duty to lean against market logic in order to minimise those outcomes. These lessons extend well beyond purely economic matters. Unregulated markets will inevitably produce social and environmental outcomes that reflect narrow and short-term individual and sectoral interests rather than those of society as a whole. The whole point of democracy is that it allows the less powerful majority to use the power and legitimacy of government to offset and counteract the economic power of a minority. If the market cannot be or is not challenged, democracy itself is weakened, loses its point and forfeits the confidence of the people it is meant to serve.

'From Campaign to Coalition: New Zealand's First General Election under Proportional Representation,' edited by Jonathan Boston et al, is reviewed.

The current status of the political Left is examined. Belief in socialism stems from outrage over social injustice. Zeal & moral outrage do not in themselves produce a socialist; a true socialist must act on this zeal, following a coherent political philosophy that identifies not only symptoms but also causes of social injustice. Though the collapse of Eastern European regimes suggests the end of socialism, it will remain as long as power is concentrated in the hands of the few & social injustice persists. The content & form of socialism may change with changing social & political conditions, but socialism is founded in the commonsense proposition that the world is a better place if each individual is allowed to make his or her full contribution to society. D. Generoli