WUNRN
Center for American Progress
Report of the Commission on Inclusive Prosperity – Gender
Nations Need to Ensure Both that Economic Growth Takes Place AND that It Is Broadly Shared
Direct Link to Full 164-Page 2015 Report:
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/IPC-PDF-full.pdf
Source: iStockphoto
By Lawrence H. Summers & Ed Balls - January 15, 2015
Preface
History tells us that
societies succeed when the fruits of growth are broadly shared. Indeed, no
society has ever succeeded without a large, prospering middle class* that
embraced the idea of progress. Today, the ability of free-market democracies to
deliver widely shared increases in prosperity is in question as never before.
The primary challenge democracies face is neither military nor philosophical.
Rather, for the first time since the Great Depression, many industrial
democracies are failing to raise living standards and provide opportunities for
social mobility to a large share of their people. Some of those countries that
have produced economic growth have done so in a manner that has left most of
their citizens no better off. This is an economic problem that threatens to
become a problem for the political systems of these nations—and for the idea of
democracy itself.
The citizens of
industrial democracies continue to value their freedom and their opportunity to
participate in the task of self-government. But they also count on their
political systems to create circumstances in which they can use their talents
and their labor to provide a decent standard of life for themselves and their
families. When democratic governments and market systems cannot deliver such
prosperity to their citizens, the result is political alienation, a loss of social
trust, and increasing conflict across the lines of race, class, and ethnicity.
Inclusive prosperity nurtures tolerance, harmony, social generosity, optimism,
and international cooperation. And these are essential for democracy itself.
The economic troubles of
the democracies also erode support for the democratic idea around the globe. In
our time, advocates and apologists for anti-democratic regimes argue that the
democracies are no longer capable of managing their problems or creating a
sense of social dynamism. Democracies are cast as sclerotic, inefficient, and
ungovernable. We believe that this critique is wrong today, as it has been
historically. But countering this persistent attack on democracy requires that
free economic and political systems restore their vitality and reclaim their
ability to deliver on the promise of prosperity for all.
It has always been the
mission of progressives to ensure rising prosperity and opportunity. A strong,
inclusive economy is the platform for a socially mobile, optimistic, and
successful society. While the economic mission of progressives is unchanging, the
means of its achievement change from generation to generation as the economy
evolves. Today, we are living in the age of globalization and technological
revolution. Both have delivered much benefit to society, but have reshaped the
political economy of western industrialized countries in ways that challenge
the middle class and those striving to get into it.
Our report is about
embracing the new economic opportunities of the 21st century by finding ways to
ensure they serve the vast majority of society. In previous eras, political
institutions have responded to economic transformations to ensure prosperity is
shared: the New Deal in the United States and the European social welfare
state; the “third-way” politics of putting people first of Clinton and Blair by
investing in people and reforming institutions. Just as it took the New Deal
and the European social welfare state to make the Industrial Revolution work
for the many and not the few during the 20th century, we need new social and
political institutions to make 21st century capitalism work for the many and
not the few.
We offer this report on
the urgency of achieving inclusive prosperity because we believe democracy must
serve this common good, the cause of social justice and the aspirations of
parents for their children. For democracies to thrive, rising prosperity
must be within reach of all of our citizens.
Lawrence H. Summers is the President Emeritus of Harvard
University. Ed Balls is the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament, or
MP, for Morley and Outwood and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the
British Parliament. They are the co-chairs of the Inclusive Prosperity
Commission.
* The term “middle
class” is used interchangeably throughout this report with “low and middle
income,” which is more commonly used in some other countries.