The Welfare Green Paper is out today and James Purnell argues in The Guardian ("Only we can help the poor") how the Tories recent focus on individual responsibility as a way of tackling poverty is wrong and that the Government's focus on using the collective power of citizens to galvanise individual responsibility is right.
Reading the new measures that will be (eg investment in skills, infrastructure and other measures that will encourage people to get into work and out of poverty) is a reminder that the "the third way" aka post neo-classical endogenous growth theory aka supply-side socialism aka investing in people / infrastructure rather than giving out dosh to individuals is back as Labour's dividing line. When these concepts were first touted by Labour in opposition the mid-1990s, they showed that Labour had the mantle of the "party of ideas".
However, the world has moved on, as has the behaviour of its citizens. The Tories are reclaiming the mantle of "party of ideas" by recognising the role of behavioural economics / social psychology in resolving current policy problems. Their current policies are heavily influenced by leading thinkers in this field (for example, Robert Cialdini author of Influence and Richard Thaler co-author of Nudge). Some on the left, dismiss these as being too individualist and ignorant of the responsibilities of society. Those of us who use these techniques to help organisations tackle inequalities, know that targeting individual behaviour can lead to societal "good". The Government recognises this in the health sector by its continuous endorsement of social marketing approaches as a way of reducing health inequalities effectively. The next step will be recognising this in its economic policies. Or else they will be nudged out.
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