“In the first place, we need to get rid of the principle of non-discrimination and equality of ownership types. It is not possible to regulate economic processes by means of tax and other laws unless it is possible to use graduated measures on a large scale to support specific sectors of the economy,” writes Czech philosopher Jiří Hejlek.
He refers to a model that used to be taken for granted. The government determines the goal that makes the national economy work. For example, to ensure a decent standard of living for the population. And then certain conditions and rules to ensure that the result is a decent standard of living for the population – rather than high profits for investors. If it turns out that some rules do not lead to that goal, the government will change them. While we will never achieve complete perfection, it can create pretty good conditions for living in a country.
The view that has prevailed in recent decades, on the other hand, is that the government should not influence the shape of the national economy and should let other players (especially multinational corporations, but also foreign governments. The role of government then is really just to make the population bear the consequences, or to compensate people for the most negative consequences. We have the consequences of this view – thirty years of impoverishment for all countries that have embarked on the path of liberal reforms.
This does not mean, of course, that every government programme and every government intervention is good. Many governments have bad intentions and others are so incompetent that it doesn’t really matter what their intentions are.
