Ideologia ou pragmatismo

John Kay interroga-se hoje no FT sobre que filosofia económica orientará a administração Obama. Eis a sua conclusão:

The attitude to protection is a litmus test of economic philosophy. Social democrats are frequently sympathetic, but no redistributive market liberal will have truck with it. Mr Obama has made protectionist noises, but there is a widespread suspicion that these noises were for the period of the campaign rather than his time in office. His books and campaign speeches seem closer to the redistribution market liberal position.

If social democrats have a naively benign view of the powers of the state, redistributive market liberals have a naively benign view of the effectiveness of markets. The blunt truth is that free markets are not a particularly efficient system for allocating resources. They are just – like democracy – more efficient than other systems and – unlike democracy – more innovative than other systems.

Mr Obama himself told The New York Times: “My own core economic theory is pragmatism.” In the present crisis, that is a pretty good place from which to begin.