Economic reform

“ So to the economist and to the educationist alike I would submit that the new work of economic and social reform should be judged as a whole, and not prejudged by that hypercriticism of details which ignores the fact that the conditions with which it is attempted to deal are wholly unprecedented. I am quite content that the movement which I am about to describe should be ultimately known and judged by its fruits. ”

“ Thus to reform our notions of what is valuable and distinguished would bring about an economic reformation; or, if other forces were needed, would make the benefits of such economic reformation completer, its hardships easier to bear; and, altering our views of loss and gain, lessen the destructive struggle of snatching and holding. ”

“ Growth has been held back by antigovernment strikes and demonstrations, a decline in world coffee prices, and the erratic commitment of the government to economic reform. The extent of government reforms, outside financial aid, and foreign investment will be key determinants of future growth. ”

“ Only you can create the economic confidence which will encourage the free flow of capital, both domestic and foreign - the capital which, under conditions of responsible investment and together with public funds, will produce permanent economic advance. Only you can eliminate the evils of destructive inflation, chronic trade imbalances and widespread unemployment. Without determined efforts on your part to establish these conditions for reform and development, no amount of outside help can do the job. ”

“ These farmers on the other hand were beginning to be very much interested in a number of economic reforms which would vitally affect their welfare, such as the reduction and readjustment of the burden of taxation, the control of corporations in the interests of the people, the reduction and regulation of the cost of transportation, and an increase in the currency supply. ”

“ You can't find your way to social reform through the forces that have made social reform necessary.
The fundamental part of such a program is that the trusts shall be recognized as a permanent part of our economic order, and that the government shall try to make trusts the ministers, the instruments, through which the life of this country shall be justly and happily developed on its industrial side. Now, everything that touches our lives sooner or later goes back to the industries which sustain our lives. ”

“ Capacity for government has been bred into our aristocracy, as beef is bred into a bullock, or speed into a racehorse, and the poor members of other classes represent the unfit stocks, who have fallen, by the operation of natural laws, into the position best suited to them. Neglect of social reform is justified, in a similar way, on the ground that the economic struggle eliminates unfit types, and that to make life easier for the masses of the people is to preserve undesirable stocks in the race. ”

“ It must be admitted that, with all of our wealth, we continue to face serious charges of poverty and industrial maladjustment. These charges are of great importance, but it should be remembered that no problem can be solved, or even intelligently attacked, until the essential facts are well in hand. We have briefly described the nature of American industry. What we have now to do, as a preliminary to considering the problem of poverty and industrial reform, is to analyze the economic laws in accordance with which American industry has developed. ”

“ We will turn pressure into impetus for growth, unwaveringly protect and develop advanced productive forces, shut down backward production facilities, integrate factors of production and create more room for development. We will balance our efforts to sustain economic growth, adjust the structure and improve economic performance to raise the overall quality of the national economy and strengthen the basis for its further development.
Third, we must press ahead with reform to make the economy more vigorous. ”

“ We need to make ensuring steady and rapid economic development the main task of our economic work. We need to strengthen and improve macroeconomic control, vigorously expand domestic demand, particularly consumer demand, change the pattern of development and speed up strategic economic restructuring, and deepen reform and improve our work of opening to the outside world. We need to improve the people's lives, increase social harmony and promote all-round progress in socialist economic, political, cultural, social and ecological development. ”

“ Its solution is a condition precedent, I earnestly believe, to prosperity.
Our taxes are high. Our national income is not what it should be. Our trade, domestic and foreign, though vastly improved, must be much greater yet. We have worked hard to secure markets for our natural products. The result of our labours has been remarkable, but we must keep on working, for we need more markets still.
Time for Reform Is Now In the beginning of its term of office, the policy of the Government was determined by the critical nature of the times. The economic system had broken down. ”

“ Economic reforms, launched by the new democratic government in 1991, are aimed at developing the private sector and attracting foreign investment to diversify the economy. Prospects for 1999 depend heavily on the maintenance of aid flows, remittances, and the momentum of the government's development program. ”

“ Our investments in social justice and basic needs are as vital to our future as fiscal and macroeconomic reforms. A nation deeply divided will not stand. And it certainly will not move forward. ”

“ Now, I realize that some of you have a different theory on how to grow the economy. Some of you sincerely believe that the only solution to our economic challenges is to simply cut most government spending and eliminate most government regulations. ”

“ In the third place, if I have any just estimate, if an experience not now a short one in public affairs has enabled me to know any thing of what the public interest demands, the state of the country requires an essential reform in the system of revenue and finance such as shall restore the prosperity, by prompting the industry and fostering the labor of the country, in its various branches. ”

“ At the same time, we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people. ”

“ At the heart of our efforts is one idea vindicated by 25 straight months of economic growth: Freedom and incentives unleash the drive and entrepreneurial genius that are the core of human progress. We have begun to increase the rewards for work, savings, and investment; reduce the increase in the cost and size of government and its interference in people's lives. ”

“ The workers in a given industry should all be combined in one autonomous unit, and their work should not be subject to any outside control. The state should fix the price at which they produce, but should leave the industry self-governing in all other respects. In fixing prices, the state should, as far as possible, allow each industry to profit by any improvements which it might introduce into its own processes, but should endeavor to prevent undeserved loss or gain through changes in external economic conditions. ”

“ Instead of resisting the global economy, you became one of its engines —- reforming the licensing raj and unleashing an economic marvel that has lifted tens of millions of people from poverty and created one of the world’s largest middle classes. ”

“ These incentives are sweeping fresh winds of progress across America. Along with restraints on government spending and regulating, they're bringing America the strongest surge of economic growth, jobs, business investment, and spendable income since the 1950's. ”

“ We have made much progress in restoring the foundation for a prosperous and productive society. By reducing the rate of growth of government spending, by strengthening the incentives to save and invest, by eliminating many unnecessary and burdensome regulations, and by encouraging monetary policies that ensure the price stability needed for lasting economic growth we have created an environment for sustained increases in productivity. ”

“ And now, finally, what is the immediate policy for rational students of economics and genuine social reformers to adopt? Their motto must be, Nulla vestigia retrorsum. To all quack proposals they must offer a steady resistance. These proposals will take the form of attempts to bring back some economic condition out of which society has emerged. ”

“ X. But there are certain important things the Government can do—A possible program, covering taxation, the tariff (with a note on the plight of the farmer) , public utilities, the five-day week for Federal employees, prohibition, our part in world affairs.
XI. Conclusion: Conceivably we can usher in a new prosperity through a readjustment of the distribution of the benefits of the machine—Amendment of "men's economic and social ideals" is the great need. ”

“ All of us are working to spur growth and create jobs. And all of us have agreed on the most sweeping reform of our financial regulatory framework in a generation – reform that will help end the risky speculation and market abuses that have cost so many people so much. ”

“ First, the new economic strategy we’ve launched: one focused on building from the bottom up and the middle out, and one that puts government on the side of working people — and that rewards work, not wealth. ”

“ No, I mean that economic policy which is best calculated to promote, together with the physical well-being, also the moral health of the people, and thus to strengthen the foundations of our institutions of democratic government. There is little danger that this nation will not be rich, but there is danger that it may be rich and rotten.
I have always been in sympathy with some of the objects which the protectionists profess to have in view. I believe in diversification of the occupations and industries of the people as an element of enlightenment and progress. ”

“ So the nation whose capital and labor are not well employed may do wisely in developing new industries, even at a considerable expense for introducing the new industries. But if all the nation's energies are profitably employed, the costly development of resources may wisely wait for future capital and labor. So all special incentives require a constant inquiry as to beneficial results supposed to follow, and the policy of the government must conform to the needs of general welfare. ”

“ And as we have seen, the intention of the industrial reformers is to introduce public management into the heart of the American industrial system; that is, into the operation of railroads and public service corporations, and in this way to bring about by incessant official interference that harmony between public and private interest which must be the object of a national economic system. ”

“ The question of the play of economic forces thus generally reduces itself to a problem which may be thus stated: What are the conditions of industrial equilibrium? How must prices, rates of wages, and profit be related in order that the various classes concerned may receive such proportions of produce as are compatible with the maintenance of the existing system of organisation? If any specified change occurs, if production becomes easier or more difficult, if a tax be imposed, or a regulation of any kind affects previous conditions, what changes will be necessary to restore the equilibrium? ”

“ The re-orientation of the national economic program, putting aside lies and deceptions, and favoring the most dispossessed sectors in the country, the workers and the peasants, who are the principal producers of the wealth that others appropriate. ”

“ The inspiration and outcome of a reforming movement ought to be freedom and a generous spirit, not niggling restrictions and regulations.
The present economic system concentrates initiative in the hands of a small number of very rich men. Those who are not capitalists have, almost always, very little choice as to their activities when once they have selected a trade or profession; they are not part of the power that moves the mechanism, but only a passive portion of the machinery. ”

“ Economic conditions require readjustment, important matters of trade must be regulated, vital questions of finance and taxation must be handled, in fact, the whole country must settle down to production, manufacture, distribution of merchandise, and the transaction of the nation’s regular business. ”

“ Thus the conditions of social efficiency mark the minimum of industrial remuneration, and if they are not secured without the deliberate action of the State they must be secured by means of the deliberate action of the State. If it is the business of good economic organization to secure the equation between function and maintenance, the first and greatest application of this principle is to the primary needs. ”

“ Perhaps the most telling argument used against drastic schemes of economic reconstruction is that which holds that any system of public ownership and representative government of essential industries would break down because it would fail to create the necessary incentives to production and distribution. ”

“ This involves two lines of action: first, the bargaining position of the laborer must be strengthened by measures designed to increase the demand for his labor, relatively to the demand for the other factors of production; second, increasing the personal efficiency of the worker will render him more attractive to the employer.
The third aim of the democratic program of industrial reform is to teach the individual to use his income wisely and economically. Only after this has been done can we be assured that the raising of wages will materially improve the condition of the worker. ”