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From: tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Politics and Ethics--Socialism,
Message-ID: <438@ubvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Feb-86 20:02:56 EST
Article-I.D.: ubvax.438
Posted: Wed Feb 12 20:02:56 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Feb-86 21:14:22 EST
References: <486@whuts.UUCP> <101500008@uiucdcs> <902@cybvax0.UUCP>
Reply-To: tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch)
Organization: Ungermann-Bass, Inc., Santa Clara, Ca.
Lines: 45

In article <1997@psuvax1.UUCP> version B 2.10.3 alpha 4/15/85; site ubvax.UUCP version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site psuvax1.UUCP ubvax!cae780!amdcad!decwrl!decvax!bellcore!ulysses!burl!clyde!cbosgd!ukma!psuvm.bitnet!psuvax1!berman berman@psuvax1.UUCP (Piotr Berman) writes:
>> Western European nations may be a little slower, but they know that
>> no democratic society would vote for economic growth by wage cuts,
>> which is what the "democratic" US has "voted" for as its great plan
>> of economic recovery ?????
>>
>> Tony Wuersch
>
>Tony is exagerating.  For example, Italians voted (i.e. government
>encouraged unions to vote that way) to relax the mechanism of "scala
>mobile", which in US means COLA, to increase Italian competetiveness
>and so to restore economic growth.  This is nothing else but growth
>by wage cuts.
>
>I admit that in the long run the idea is absurd: growth should increase
>individual wealth, not decrease.  But in the short run it may mean
>a necessary correction.  (This is at least what Italians seemed to
>believe.)
>
>Piotr Berman

I didn't know about the Italian case -- thanks, Piotr.  My point was
that rather than putting such matters up to a vote of some sort, the
US right wing prefers to place economic policy outside the jurisdiction
of democracy, as much as it can.

There certainly are times when austerity is necessary, but I would hope
the population of the US is responsible enough to agree about the threat
and some solution via democratic channels, instead of being left out of
the process by right wing and business interests who prefer bureaucratic
power.

As to Italy, the system is very complicated and I'd expect the motives
to be more arcane than "to restore Italian competitiveness".  Which
Italian competitiveness -- Fiat?  Italy has the fastest growth rate
in Europe, based on the Northern Italian underground economy.  Maybe
the unions wanted to make a deal whereby Fiat would continue to be
restricted from using underground suppliers in exchange for an end
to COLAs, which don't mean much in a non-inflationary world economy.

But this is just speculation -- Piotr may well be right there.  Italy
slipped through my mind when I thought of Western Europe.

Tony Wuersch
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