"But these choices have also coincided with slower productivity growth, fewer globally dominant technology companies, and persistent concern about economic competitiveness."
This is contrasted with the no regulation, no redistribution, US model.
Given that the US model has spawned a techno bro class that is set to consume fundamental resources like water, energy, forests, oceans at a rate that may be to the ultimate detriment of the planet and for the benefit of a handful - Europe's 'problems' barely register.
Thank-you for this thoughtful article. I agree with @heatherscoffield1 - there are big ideas here, and it will take some time to consider this piece. A first-blush reaction, though. You open with, "The great promise of the post-war era was that growth and fairness could advance together." You also need to consider that the post-war era began from a place of global destruction. A huge amount of productive capital had been wiped out, along with the wealth inequity that had reached crisis proportions before the wars. Post-war growth could not have occurred without some degree of "fairness" if we were to collectively rebuild. Perhaps the great challenge of the current world is to find policy solutions to avoid the need for another war to eliminate wealth disparity. Short of blowing up the server farms and data centres as collateral damage in a war scenario, how can we address wealth inequality so we can take a stab at a fairness agenda? Thank-you again for the thought-provoking article.
"But these choices have also coincided with slower productivity growth, fewer globally dominant technology companies, and persistent concern about economic competitiveness."
This is contrasted with the no regulation, no redistribution, US model.
Given that the US model has spawned a techno bro class that is set to consume fundamental resources like water, energy, forests, oceans at a rate that may be to the ultimate detriment of the planet and for the benefit of a handful - Europe's 'problems' barely register.
Thank-you for this thoughtful article. I agree with @heatherscoffield1 - there are big ideas here, and it will take some time to consider this piece. A first-blush reaction, though. You open with, "The great promise of the post-war era was that growth and fairness could advance together." You also need to consider that the post-war era began from a place of global destruction. A huge amount of productive capital had been wiped out, along with the wealth inequity that had reached crisis proportions before the wars. Post-war growth could not have occurred without some degree of "fairness" if we were to collectively rebuild. Perhaps the great challenge of the current world is to find policy solutions to avoid the need for another war to eliminate wealth disparity. Short of blowing up the server farms and data centres as collateral damage in a war scenario, how can we address wealth inequality so we can take a stab at a fairness agenda? Thank-you again for the thought-provoking article.
Some big ideas in this piece about AI creating wealth but also disparity, adding to some of mine here: https://canadiantaxobservatory.ca/billionaire-ai-tech-bros-at-the-head-table-are-redefining-your-world-heres-why-we-must-get-ahead-of-this/
We need to think harder about what the best policy responses are.