Steven Petrov
The Paw Print
This economic concept is most popular among the developing countries
The country of the United States of America has always been appointed as the place on Earth where a person can achieve anything. A poor lower class individual can fight their way through the upper classes and one day change his and his family’s social and economic status in society. This very basic concept and belief had led to the enormous and outstanding growth of the US ever since its origination. The concepts of “equal rights,” “freedom of speech,” and “freedom of religion and rights” are in turn protected under the US constitution, but are they really present in the modern day America that we all live in. Ever since the 1980s the concept of increased productivity and maximized profits has changed the business world into such an enormous extend that the ratio of annual payment of the CEO versus the payment of the regular employee, has increased from 40:1 to over 500:1 today. This simple comparison will paint the picture of how all of the above-mentioned Constitutional rights and freedoms are not existent in the free market enterprise that we live in. This can in turn explain why 1 of every 4 Americans doesn’t believe in the free market enterprise as a system that is good for a country like the US. In a study done by “Pew Research Institute,” the data that 25% of the US population would rather live in a centrally planned economy is supported. This economic and personal view of Americans finds an interesting correlation with another statistical data set.
In a study among 9 developing countries like Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya etc. more than 75% of the population supports the free market enterprise. This could be easily analyzed as due to the relatively low economic prosperity of these countries; the people need this type of economic system because it promotes entrepreneurship and competition, which in turn are essential for the development and progress of countries like that. In contrast, in developed countries the general number of people who share the same economic beliefs with the 25% of the Americans mentioned above, is still around 30%.
At least 3 out of 10 people in countries like Germany and South Korea believe that the time of free market enterprise has passed and the adoption of a newly modified economic policy should bring the attention of the governmental economic policy makers. The same ratio increases significantly percentage wise in countries like Greece, Japan and Spain. Half of these countries’ citizens believe that better market conditions exist and should be strived for. This interesting statistical data that has recently come from the “Pew research Institute” is just pointing at a commonly known issue in the US and worldwide economy.
The increasing income disparity, the slow but consistent weakening of the countries’ middle class eventually leads to instability and lowered level of trust in the system by the general population. And after all policies should be made so that are beneficial for the people, not just a selected few of them but for everyone else as well.
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