Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Robert Reich's "Saving Capitalism"
For the Many, Not the Few
Robert Reich would be an unexpected ally for the movement on the Left, or the more liberal members of the American society. Reich is a classically trained economist that has actually won a Nobel Prize in economics for some of his work. Such awards and achievements would typically be associated with an individual that was more economically conservative than what Reich is arguing. However, the economic conditions that have provided decades of economic growth for many of the advanced nations are changing quickly and the standard economic perspectives are no longer creating the results that they did in previous circumstances. Reich makes many claims that might seem counterintuitive to many people who believe that the free market operates best when it is left to its own devices and not subject to government regulation.
However, the concept that hard work will allow you succeed and make a better life for you and your family does not apply to the new generation to the extent it did in previous years. For example, middle-income children are half as likely to climb to the top quintile...
Trends such as these create conditions in which inequality is rampant and provide the foundation for Reich's arguments. This analysis will review the work Reich presents and his ideas restoring economic mobility in the United States.
Saving Capitalism
Many of the arguments that Reich is tackling are a direct response to the notion that free markets are worthy of some ideological status that beyond any criticism. People in the United States often feel that capitalism and the free market is a system that has proven itself to be the best system that has ever been tried and have consequently developed an obsession with the free market and the basic rules of capitalism that represents such a closely held belief that it could be perceived as approaching more of a religious sentiment than anything related to a public policy. At the same time, there is also mounting evidence provided by other countries that illustrate alternatives to strict free market adherence that have shown to be effective in many regards, especially relative to policy outcomes.
The main idea that Reich rallies around is that inequality is producing social results that are inconsistent with effective public policies and possible (or probably) democracy in general. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine about the book Reich has stated that he has received two basic categories of responses to his proposals, which he describes as (Konczal, 2015):
"You called your book Saving Capitalism. Why…
Works Cited
Konczal, M. (2015, October 7). Robert Reich on Why Capitalism Needs Saving. Retrieved from Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/robert-reich-on-why-capitalism-needs-saving-20151007
free markets perspective, examine the ethics and morality of 'let capitalism rip' allegation made by British Prime Minister David Cameron. (Guide: 750 words) The competence or incompetence of free markets and the implications of resource allotment to agents in an economy continues to be a passionately debated topic within economic and political circles. "In reality, markets are prone to inefficiencies when a number of factors arise" (Mendes, n.d.). A key
Evaluating how a free market economy views human agency and free will, it is then seen that human beings in this kind of set-up are interpreted as rational human beings with the same capacities, abilities, and resources for competition in an invisible hand economy. Rather than the government, the majority of decisions on economic activities and transactions are then assumed by individual key players in the market (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market). Comparison of
Theory Free Market Fairness for the Free New World When choosing between theories of distributive justice, Rawls' "Justice as Fairness" and Tomasi's "Free Market Fairness," Tomasi's theory best expresses the democratic ideal of society as a system of social cooperation between free and equal persons. In the 21st century global economic landscape, a very popular and profitable trend is "going green." Going green includes making improvements to operations of organizations that promote
This information goes both ways, which is essential for the functioning of the free market. While this information comes and goes in the free market, so does it in the realm of advertising and consumerism. Companies advertise, consumers follow suit with their response, and these companies continue with or adjust their advertising methods to better suit themselves and their consumers. It is this give and take that has made the
Proponents of free market systems argue that free enterprise leads to more efficient production and better response to changing consumer preferences. Others point to the fact that markets are not perfect. Consider both viewpoints and respond to both sides of the issue with your viewpoints. The 20th century contains many examples of the inefficiencies of purely a 'command-based' economy. Command or planned economies keep employment artificially high and the prices of
DevelopmentalismDevelopmentalism is a policy approach that emphasizes the role of the state in promoting economic growth and improving living standards by way of supporting a strong internal domestic market and using tariffs to keep imports from upsetting or undermining that internal strength. It emerged predominantly in the 1940s and 1950s in response to the Great Depression and World War II, and was widely adopted by developing countries during the post-war