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THE TRIUMPH OF ECONOMIC RATIONALISM: THE TREASURY AND THE MARKET ECONOMY
Author(s) -
Whitwell Greg
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8500.1990.tb02260.x
Subject(s) - treasury , public sector , private sector , economics , competition (biology) , market failure , economic sector , public finance , market economy , economic policy , public economics , economy , neoclassical economics , political science , economic growth , macroeconomics , ecology , law , biology
The 1980s have seen the triumph of economic rationalism. Greater efficiency has become a sacred goal. Increased competition and the unlocking of market forces, we are told, are the key means to obtain it. Proponents of economic rationalism insist that the public sector is riddled with inefficiencies. The private sector, by contrast, is self‐evidently superior. To the extent that the private sector often operates less than optimally, a major reason is the plethora of perverse governmental regulations which hamper its efficiency. Despite the problems, the public sector needs to model itself wherever possible on the private. And where public sector activities can be or are being done in the private sector, then the public sector should surrender such activities. The inevitable result will be an increase in net economic welfare: the economy will become more dynamic and scarce resources will be allocated more efficiently. Such is the rhetoric of the economic rationalists.