ECONOMY
We believe Americans must face a stark and unyielding fact: manufacturing, the engine of our economy for most of the 20th Century, can simply no longer generate the job opportunities our country needs on a consistent, ongoing basis — at least on its own. The economic conditions of the 21st Century present a very different picture from the past. Globalization, automation, the Information Revolution and intense competition from rising powers such as China and India are the new reality.
Nor can consumer spending alone drive our prosperity, especially in today’s global, knowledge-based economy. Consumption is only one half of the equation, and an unreliable factor when it’s fueled primarily by consumer credit. What’s more, an economic model which relies on people spending money they do not have to buy things they do not really need is a house of cards which will inevitably collapse under a growing mountain of debt.
Whigs also do not subscribe to failed models of statist wealth redistribution. We see the primary economic role of government as creating the conditions for successful capitalist competiton through private enterprise, much as a sports league sets the rules of the game and enforces them evenly as the teams fight it out among themselves. At the same time, we strongly favor public/private partnerships in situations where the public interest is best served by more direct government involvement.
Essentially, we think our nation needs a new, innovative, entrepreneurial economic model more suited to the modern challenges we face. And the blueprint is at hand. The traditional field of political economy offers a firm conceptual foundation for us to rely on; the ever-evolving worlds of law and finance give us the tools we need to create it.
What is left for us now is to muster our can-do spirit, roll up our sleeves and apply American know-how to the challenges we face. In the famous words of the great American industrialist Henry Kaiser, “Problems are opportunities in work clothes.”
Proposals:
Greater emphasis on and investment in our system of public education so the creative potential of every young person is realized.
Generous grants and contracts to universities and corporations to support scientific research and development.
Maintenance of a sound safety net to promote entrepreneurial risk-taking.
Indirect investment by the general public in the commercialization of new ideas and discoveries through professionally managed public venture funds, with the profits returned to ordinary citizens as a direct "social innovation" dividend.
Use of public/private partnerships rather than straight government programs whenever possible, in order to drive economic development and generate broad prosperity.
Leverage the need to transition away from fossil fuels to create a thriving industrial sector by implementing a domestic Marshall Plan centered on renewable energy technology.
Other issues, such as regulatory reform — especially where it concerns Wall Street and the world of finance — also call out for attention. We are firmly convinced it’s possible to address all our challenges in a comprehensive manner. Our purpose is to create an inclusive brand of capitalism built on free enterprise and the profit motive; which puts production before extraction; and which enshrines equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome.
[Policy Hall: Economic Policy]
______________________________________________________________________
The Modern Whig Institute is a 501(c)(3) civic research and education foundation dedicated to the fundamental American principles of representative government, ordered liberty, capitalism, due process and the rule of law.
