NEW GENERAL, SAME WAY:

Obama’s Third Way: Obama can create a new governing ideology for the West (Fareed Zakaria, 11/05/08, NEWSWEEK)

The world has moved on from the 1960s. Few believe that the government should own the commanding heights of the economy, that central planners should allocate resources and that protectionism will save jobs in the long run. Look at the left in power, from Britain to Australia, and you see pro-market, pro-trade policies aimed at promoting growth. The difference is that they also encourage government efforts in certain areas where the private sector isn't sufficient.

Mr. Zakaria's field is foreign policy, so his sketchy grasp of domestic policy can be forgiven. What he's describing as Obama's new way is just accepting the Third Way of Pinochet/Thatcher/New Zealand. Look at the Right in power, or about to come to power, in Australia, Britain, Germany, France, America, etc. You see pro-market, pro-trade policies aimed at promoting growth that accept Second Way government effort in areas where the private sector isn't sufficient. Thus, George W. Bush did not propose abolishing Social Security, just personalizing the accounts, which the new Chief of Staff supports in the Hyde Park Declaration and which the new president has said he'd d in the form of universal 401k's.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 5, 2008 11:19 AM