23/01/2005 12:09:45 pm
Contradictory Forces? The Timbro conference about the second wave of globalisation this week left me with several thoughts. Fredrik Erixon described the conflict between free mobility of labour and the welfare state. I agree. But there is another force as well. The demands for structural change in business increase with globalisation - and that probably increases the demand for social security systems. And today, in Europe, they are provided by the government. One might ask which force is the strongest - will the second wave of globalisation destroy big government or increase the demand for it? Of course one reply may be that you can have a small government and still generous social security - you just have to make it private. I would like that but realise that it is not the case today. An interesting issue!