Posted by
john on Thursday, November 13, 2008 4:18:15 PM
The day Americans hear a Democratic president deliver these words, we'll know we have change we can believe in. "The new Australian Labor government... is... unashamedly pro-market, pro-business, and pro-globalization. That is our policy orientation because we believe it is in the best interests of the working families who trusted us with the responsibility of government." Geez, this guy sounds like one of your grandfather's Democrats, as opposed to one of that crowd of Chicago socialists soon to be infesting Washington.
I wonder if Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has heard of Hauser's Law. If indeed the world is so kind as to offer us a "third way" that actually works (as opposed to simply being a slow boat to socialism), "social justice", leavened by the tax policy discipline suggested by Hauser's Law, would be it. That is, if you want to grow a social safety net (not an unalloyed good in my opinion), do it in the context of a dynamic, growth-oriented economy that fattens government coffers enough to dabble in charity, while providing opportunity for those with the combination of talent and motivation to increase their circumstances without government aid. Pro-market, pro-business, pro-globalization, and ANTI-TAX. To the extent P.M. Rudd follows the prescription he has set out, Australia will be worth watching.