Capitalism Forever?

[Brad DeLong]

>I don't think so. There is considerable evidence that relatively 
>generous social provisions in the Fordist era were due to three 
>things: (a) competition with the Soviet bloc, (b) the threat of 
>social unrest at home, and (c) the long boom from 1945 through 1973.

Doesn't the fact that left-of-center parties got more votes play a 
role? This isn't elite politicians like Bismarck or even Disraeli 
deciding how much to grant. This is mass politicians trying to 
assemble winning electoral coalitions...

And there is a certain... bizarreness... in the belief that social 
provisions became less "generous" after 1973... The average OECD 
government collected 30% of GDP in taxes in 1965 and spent about 7% 
of that on the military, leaving government civilian spending at 23% 
of GDP. The average OECD government collects about 43% of GDP in 
taxes today, and spends about 3% of that on the military.

There have been important changes in surveillance by the state, in 
the generational distribution of benefit programs, in economic 
regulation, and other areas. But the fact that the typical OECD 
government spent 23% of GDP on domestic programs in 1965 and 40% 
today should not be forgotten.

Brad DeLong