Look Who’s Not Listening

WHO WAS listening, in September 1981, when Ronald Reagan exhorted the finance ministers and bankers assembled for the World Bank/IMF annual meeting “to believe in the magic of the marketplace”? Although Ronald Reagan received no applause during his speech, it appears that many were listening. Certainly the British were receptive, having already embarked on an extraordinary program to transfer more than six hundred thousand jobs from nationalized industries to the private sector. The Canadians likewise have had a successful program for several years. The French must have been listening, even if it took them several years to start deregulating financial markets and selling state enterprises.

The developing countries—initially, Chile and Bangladesh—heard the call and began to dismantle a myriad of government businesses. Even some who weren’t at that 1981 meeting—including most of Central Europe and the Soviet Union—appear to have grasped that something is going on.

JB

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James Burnham

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WHO WAS listening, in September 1981, when Ronald Reagan exhorted the finance ministers and bankers assembled for the World Bank/IMF annual meeting “to believe in the magic of the marketplace”? Although Ronald Reagan received no applause during his speech, it appears that many were listening. Certainly the British were receptive, having already embarked on an extraordinary program to transfer more than six hundred thousand jobs from nationalized industries to the private sector. The Canadians likewise have had a successful program for several years. The French must have been listening, even if it took them several years to start deregulating financial markets and selling state enterprises.

The developing countries—initially, Chile and Bangladesh—heard the call and began to dismantle a myriad of government businesses. Even some who weren’t at that 1981 meeting—including most of Central Europe and the Soviet Union—appear to have grasped that something is going on.