Neoliberalsim and The Power of the Poor

Last night, our local Public TV channel ran "The Power of the Poor," documenting Hernando de Soto Polar's efforts to expand property rights for the poor. The program was evidently developed by the FreeToChooseNetwork which supports neoliberal ideas ("...the interdependency of personal, political and economic freedom sustained by the rule of law.")

The documentary touched on a number of issues: the tragedy of the commons (the poor without property or employment must earn their living off the commons), the ownership society (a Bush II era idea that led to the Subprime Mortgage Crisis), and the provision of public goods (ownership of private property does not absolve the government from providing public goods as is argued by market fundamentalists).

It would be very useful in the United States (and in the IMF), to have some agreement on the proper role of government: support for private property rights but where markets fail or where private property rights damage the public interest, the responsibility falls on government to intervene and regulate. Progress here would involve giving up the Reagan-era idea that government is the problem and must be dismantled.