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Italy and Germany have their (recent) roots in fascism. France has its in . . . well. I'm not going to go there. Note that the UK produced Adam Smith and, to

Italy and Germany have their (recent) roots in fascism. France has its in . . . well. I'm not going to go there. Note that the UK produced Adam Smith and, to a nontrivial degree, the US, and Canada. The culture and early government of the US in particular was notably influenced by the ideas of Adam Smith as well. What Smith called "economic individualism" is pretty much the foundation of a strong economy, and to the extent that we stray from that two things happen: 1. individuals find it more difficult to start and run small businesses 2. the economy suffers I am not surprised at all at the relative rankings of these G8 nations.

eru 16y ago
Indeed. Though Italy and Germany and to some extents Japan had some experience with fascism. The current constitution of Germany was heavily influenced by American demands (and the Japanese constitution, too). You could say that Germany had a strong history of social-monarchy, and then social-democracy. (With some fascism in a 12 year year period and 40 years of socialism in the east.)
davidw 16y ago
I am not sure "fascism" is the common bond. Slow, bureaucratic procedures with relatively high capital requirements seem to be the norm in continental Europe, with countries moving away from that model at different speeds.
loewenskind 16y ago
The common connection between companies that don't do so well is corruption, not previous government choices. As far as following Adam Smith's works, the economy the US has is a caricature of Smith's ideas (e.g. Smith was anti-monopoly).
- apotheon 16y ago
  1. Do you think that the form of a government does not affect its tendency toward corruption? 2. Note that I was talking about Smith's influence on early US government. The nation has obviously strayed from that quite a lot since then -- and has economically gone downhill quite a lot, as well.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    1. Yes and no. The smaller you make the government's power the less their corruption will matter. On the other hand, if the government handles more things (e.g. Sweden) then I would expect corruption to be attacked more because it harms more people. The US is kind of a special case I think. They have an absolutely enormous government that few people trust and even fewer think anything can be done to change it. Sweden, for contract, is voted the most Democratic country. Given the size of their government, this seems to imply that they are much more positive about it.

eru 16y ago

Indeed. Though Italy and Germany and to some extents Japan had some experience with fascism. The current constitution of Germany was heavily influenced by American demands (and the Japanese constitution, too). You could say that Germany had a strong history of social-monarchy, and then social-democracy. (With some fascism in a 12 year year period and 40 years of socialism in the east.)

davidw 16y ago

I am not sure "fascism" is the common bond. Slow, bureaucratic procedures with relatively high capital requirements seem to be the norm in continental Europe, with countries moving away from that model at different speeds.

loewenskind 16y ago

The common connection between companies that don't do so well is corruption, not previous government choices. As far as following Adam Smith's works, the economy the US has is a caricature of Smith's ideas (e.g. Smith was anti-monopoly).

apotheon 16y ago
1. Do you think that the form of a government does not affect its tendency toward corruption? 2. Note that I was talking about Smith's influence on early US government. The nation has obviously strayed from that quite a lot since then -- and has economically gone downhill quite a lot, as well.
- loewenskind 16y ago
  1. Yes and no. The smaller you make the government's power the less their corruption will matter. On the other hand, if the government handles more things (e.g. Sweden) then I would expect corruption to be attacked more because it harms more people. The US is kind of a special case I think. They have an absolutely enormous government that few people trust and even fewer think anything can be done to change it. Sweden, for contract, is voted the most Democratic country. Given the size of their government, this seems to imply that they are much more positive about it.