2a Reading

The first is an extract from a talk by J. K. Galbraith. Read the text and answer this question:

What areas does Galbraith describe as responsibilities of the state that were not in the list in I?

The Good Life Beckons

The good society accepts the basic market Those who attack the services of the state are system and its managers, but there are usually those who can afford to provide simisome things the market system does not do either well or badly. In the good society 25 In the good society, there must also be

5 these are the responsibility of the state.attention to a range of activities that are

evident. In no beyond the time horizons Of the market Some areas of state action are does the market system provide good economy. This is tnle in the sciences, not country excluding medical research. The market low-cost housing. This is a matter of prime and must every*'here be a public 30 system invests for relatively short-run return. importance

10 responsibility. Few things are more Visibly at To support science is pre-eminently the odds with the good society than badly housed responsibility of the state.

Or homeless people.

Health care is also a public responsibility in achievements Of recent generations the great all civilized lands. No one can be assigned to 35 improvements in agricultural productivity, or death because Of poverty. Here modern air transport, advanced electronics 15 illness

Britain can proudly point to its leadership. have depended heavily on such public The state has many other essential func- investment. Necessary also a matter we are tions. It must also be borne in mind that many beginning reluctantly to recognize is investand recreational facilities, 40 ment and regulation in the longer-run interest of these parks libraries, the arts, others are more of the environment. The good society protects

20 police, the underclass than by the affluent. and improves life in its planetary dimension. needed by

(From New Statesman and Society)

2b Comprehension

I That does Galbraith say about people who criticize government services?

2Wy, according to Galbraith, is the market system not sufficient to guarantee scientific research?

3According to what you have read here, how would you characterize Galbraith's politics?

The role of government 129

2c Vocabulary

1 obvious

6 poor or unemployed people

2 inexpensive

7 rich or wealthy people

3 inconsistent with or contrary to

8 successes

4 bad health

9 unwillingly, not eagerly

5 remembered (or not forgotten)

10 global or worldwide

Find words or expressions in the text which mean the following.

2d Reading

Here is an extract from Milton and Rose Friedman's book Free to Choose. Read the text and answer this question:

What is the Friedmans' opinion of the activities of the US government?

Though the United States has not adopted central economic planning, we have gone very far in the past 50 years in expanding the role of government in the economy. That intervention has been costly in economic terms. The limitations imposed on our economic freedom threaten to bring two centuries of economic progress to an end.

5 Intervention has also been costly in political terms. It has greatly limited our human freedom.

An essential part of economic freedom is freedom to choose how to use our income: how much to spend on ourselves and on what items; how much to save and in what form; how much to give away and to whom. Currently, more than Of our income is 10 disposed of on our behalf by government-at federal, state and local levels combined.

As Consumers, we are not even free to choose how to spend that part of our income that is left after taxes. We are not free to buy cyclamates or laetrile, and soon, perhaps, saccharin. Our physician is not free to prescribe many drugs for us that he may regard as the most effective for our ailments, even though the drugs may be widely available 15 abroad. We are not free to buy an automobile without seat belts. [ ]

Another essential part Of economic freedom is freedom to use the resources we possess in accordance with our own values freedom to enter any occupation, engage in any business enterprise, buy from or sell to anyone else, so long as We do so on a strictly voluntary basis and do not resort to force in order to coerce others.

20 Today you are not free to offer your services as a lawyer, a physician, a dentist, a plumber, a barber, a mortician, or engage in a host Of other occupations, Muthout first getting a permit or licence from a government official. You are not free to work overtime at terms mutually agreeable to you and your employer, unless the terms conform to rules and regulations laid down by a government official.

25 You are not free to set up a bank, go into the taxicab business, or the business of selling electricity or a telephone service, or running a railroad, busline, or airline, without first receiving permission from a government official. [ ... ]

Freedom cannot be absolute. We do live in an interdependent society. Some restrictions on our freedom are necessary to avoid other, still worse, restructions. 30 However, we have gone far beyond that point. The urgent need today is to elinunate restrictions, not add to them.

(Milton and Rose Friedman: Free to Choose)

Unit 22

2e Comprehension

In which sentence do the Friedmans criticize taxation?

2What do they say about road safety legislation?

3What is the only restriction they believe to be necessary regarding professional occupations, business and trade?

4What do they say about the law regarding, for example, doctors and dentists?

5What is their objection to the law regarding labour contracts?

6According to what you have read here, how would you characterize the Friedmans' politics?

2f Vocabulary

I costly

A a large number of

2 disposed of

B a medical doctor

3 on our behalf

C expensive

4 a physician

D done for us

5 ailments

E (non-serious) illnesses

6 to resort to force

F someone who arranges funerals

7 to coerce

G someone who fixes water pipes

8 a mortician

H spent, used or consumed

9 a plumber

I to use violence

10 a host of

J to compel people to do something against their will

Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

2g Discussion

Do you agree with Milton and Rose Friedman, concerning any of the specific examples they give of government legislation?

Do the Friedmans specifically oppose any of Galbraith's arguments in 2a?

Has reading Galbraith or the Friedmans caused you to alter your opinion about the government in your country (or in the USA)?

Do you see government as a necessary institution spending taxpayers' money in an enlightened way, or as a powerful institution limiting your freedom? Or somewhere in between?

Julian Amey, helping small 3 Government and industrycompanies to

export their

You will hear an interview with Julian Amey, who was goods and formerly one of a hundred export promoters working forservices the British government in the Department of Trade and Industry, often abbreviated to the DTI.

The role Dt government13t