I think this is what it looks like when the government becomes more activist in the overall running of the economy.
The pendulum swings. We had a lot of government involvement in the 40/50s. It declined through the 60s and 70s until we got peak deregulation in the 80s. People forget that near-free telephone calls and cheap flights everywhere were a direct result of all the deregulation. Now I see things swinging back. Maybe it's generational, we forget/become blind to how good we have it, and only see the disadvantages, and then swing back the other direction.
My sense is that we're heading toward something more like China with all the good and bad that entails. Much closer cooperation/coordination between the federal government, industry, finance, and academia. Government that doesn't let big business fail, more stable and "guaranteed" employment/income for people, more state direction of the economy. More emphasis on big firms, "national champions" (Trump creating the CEO advisory council with Apple/Tesla/etc. CEOs, bailing out Boeing), America-first (China-first!) industrial policy, and limited scope for foreign ownership/takeovers (US blocking ZTE's takeover of Qualcomm, arresting Huawei execs in Canada). With the accompanying reduction in freedom of expression, individual rights, ease of hiring and firing, economic freedom, and overall dynamism/ability to adapt and invent new things.
It's been heading this way for a while and frankly, seems to be what people want. Massive escalating bailouts every 10 years, and a serious push for a socialist, worker-first government. It seems there's been some kind of deep shift in our culture away from risk-taking and more toward the stable academic/government/state-directed way of life.
Look at all the main street businesses around you, especially hotels, dry cleaners, diners, gas stations, auto repair shops. It's striking how many were started from about 1940-1970 or so. Nobody wants to own or operate this stuff anymore. Everyone would rather go to college, get a stable job at a big, high-paying, high-productivity company, usually that offers good insurance, paid parental leave, etc. and work there for a long time, or hop between various versions of this same arrangement for a few years at a time.
The pendulum swings. We had a lot of government involvement in the 40/50s. It declined through the 60s and 70s until we got peak deregulation in the 80s. People forget that near-free telephone calls and cheap flights everywhere were a direct result of all the deregulation. Now I see things swinging back. Maybe it's generational, we forget/become blind to how good we have it, and only see the disadvantages, and then swing back the other direction.
My sense is that we're heading toward something more like China with all the good and bad that entails. Much closer cooperation/coordination between the federal government, industry, finance, and academia. Government that doesn't let big business fail, more stable and "guaranteed" employment/income for people, more state direction of the economy. More emphasis on big firms, "national champions" (Trump creating the CEO advisory council with Apple/Tesla/etc. CEOs, bailing out Boeing), America-first (China-first!) industrial policy, and limited scope for foreign ownership/takeovers (US blocking ZTE's takeover of Qualcomm, arresting Huawei execs in Canada). With the accompanying reduction in freedom of expression, individual rights, ease of hiring and firing, economic freedom, and overall dynamism/ability to adapt and invent new things.
It's been heading this way for a while and frankly, seems to be what people want. Massive escalating bailouts every 10 years, and a serious push for a socialist, worker-first government. It seems there's been some kind of deep shift in our culture away from risk-taking and more toward the stable academic/government/state-directed way of life.
Look at all the main street businesses around you, especially hotels, dry cleaners, diners, gas stations, auto repair shops. It's striking how many were started from about 1940-1970 or so. Nobody wants to own or operate this stuff anymore. Everyone would rather go to college, get a stable job at a big, high-paying, high-productivity company, usually that offers good insurance, paid parental leave, etc. and work there for a long time, or hop between various versions of this same arrangement for a few years at a time.