the role of government in the economy

Americans usually see politics and economics as two quite different subjects. Robert Reich, the Clinton Administration’s first Secretary of Labor, has written that:

Americans tend to divide the dimensions of our national life into two realms. The fist is the realm of government and politics. The second is the realm of business and economics….The choice is falsely posed. In advanced industrial nations like the United States, drawing such distinctions between government and the market has ceased to be useful.

Americans also draw sharp distinctions between “our economy” and “the world economy”. Not so much anymore with the “electrical herd” which is the slang for people moving investments and money round he world now at the click of a mouse.

Historically the U.S. government policy toward business was summed up by the French term laissez-faire—“leave it alone.” The concept came from the economic theories of influenced the growth of American capital...