Are there any new solutions or only old recipes to the current economic crises?

Are there any new solutions or only old recipes to the current economic crises?

Home work

Antonia with David

Dr Pugh’s letter in The Guardian (15th April 2009)

expresses his opinion about a debate current among intellectuals in many countries. He discusses the traditional ideological approaches of free market liberalism versus socialism and solutions to the current economic crises and the social consequences of the recession, such as redundancy and unemployment. Apart from the economic crises there is also a crisis in traditional ideological approaches, which are considered redundant in liberal and conservative political and intellectual circles.
In my opinion they have to consider one other fundamental question: is it realistic to consider the traditional ideological approaches old fashioned? Perhaps the best solution would be to revive the ethical approach in all areas of society. In fact Prime Ministers and Presidents of many countries are trying to reconvert their economic energy and deal with the social impact created by redundancy and the consequent unemployment. Since the 1980s many states have lost a lot of their main social functions due to the illusion that the free market and the new economy could solve all of society’s problems. In the meanwhile, they have lost their ethical roles as the main priority has been the pursuit of profit. Now liberal intellectuals, who supported the free market and were critical of state involvement, are rediscovering the traditional functions of the state in dealing with the consequences of the global recession.
The banking and financial sectors have relied on public money to survive. The risk in this situation is that the state could become too powerful creating several new problems. In fact, in the liberal state the government have to promote and support the spirit of capitalism. In conclusion the roles of the government should be to use the media to improve the involvement of the general public in political debate and to support and promote democracy.