My new book: Social Democratic Capitalism [feedly]

My new book: Social Democratic Capitalism
https://lanekenworthy.net/2019/10/02/my-new-book-social-democratic-capitalism/

Lane Kenworthy's new book: an economic defense of Social Democratic capitalism, which is nearly identical to Bernie Sanders Democratic Socialism, or Elizabeth Warren's progressive capitalism. Kenworthy's arguments, like recent posts by Brad DeLong, frankly sound more sober, astute, and data driven than some advocates (James Galbraith, e.g.)

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It's available today. The Oxford University Press and Amazon pages have the table of contents, blurbs, and more. You can read the first chapter online. Here is the opening:

For nations, as for individuals, it's good to be rich. Affluent countries are more likely to be democratic, more likely to have government programs that cushion life's bumps and boost the capabilities and well-being of the less fortunate, and more likely to prioritize personal liberty. Their citizens tend to be more secure, better educated, healthier, freer, and happier.

The world's twenty or so rich democratic countries aren't all alike, and they've changed a good bit over the past century. Their experiences give us helpful clues about what institutions and policies best promote human flourishing. To this point in history, the most successful societies have been those that feature capitalism, a democratic political system, good elementary and secondary (K–12) schooling, a big welfare state, employment-conducive public services, and moderate regulation of product and labor markets. I call this set of policies and institutions "social democratic capitalism."

Social democratic capitalism improves living standards for the least well-off, enhances economic security, and very likely boosts equality of opportunity. It does so without sacrificing the many other things we want in a good society, from liberty to economic growth and much more. Its chief practitioners have been the Nordic nations: Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Contrary to what some presume, there is no good reason to think social democratic capitalism will work well only in these countries. Its success almost certainly is transferable to other affluent nations. Indeed, all of those nations already are partial adopters of social democratic capitalism.

The United States, the largest of the world's rich democracies, is one of those partial adopters. If the United States were to expand some of its existing public social programs and add some additional ones, many ordinary Americans would have better lives. Despite formidable political obstacles, there is good reason to think America will move in this direction in coming decades.

Those are my conclusions. This book provides the evidence and the reasoning.

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