The Focus of Economic and Social Policy Should Be the Welfare of People Currently Alive - Coursework Example

The opposing perspective of the phrase "The focus of economic and social policy should be the welfare of people currently alive" Name Course Lecturer Date Abstract Social policy is a set of guidelines that a government puts in place to address human welfare in terms of creating, maintaining and improving human living conditions. Since it is connected to the government, the policies involved are public and it is a social policy since it is connected to social issues. Some of the issues that the policy aims to achieve include ensuring the involvement service users and the people involved in this policy to help it be a success through service delivery and development (Corsini and Viazzo, 1997). Culture is a critical aspect in ensuring sustainable development. An aspect that appears to have played an important role in the increased call for sustainability is the cultural degradation that is experienced by different societies. Cultural organizations play an important role in ensuring that culture is maintained and there is therefore a great need to ensure that their activities within any economy is well regulated to reduce the threat that are associated with unregulated operations. In a nutshell culture is a social issue that greatly impact on the level of productivity that can be attained by any given society; this critical to other areas of the society that directly depend on the level of development that are attained by any given society (Ghai, 1997). By monitoring culture oriented organizations and cultural activities a platform is developed for greater cultural sustainability which is important to nearly all areas of the society. This paper is going to look at the economic and social policies, focusing on the fact that it should not only focus on the welfare of the people who are currently alive only, but also various aspects of the social and economic aspects of the globe as a whole. In essence, the paper is against the notion that economic and social policies should be mainly focused on the individuals that are currently alive only (Cornia, 2000). Globalization is one of the policies that cuts mainly across the economic and social classes of different individuals be they dead or alive, and in most cases, the policies that were formulated by individuals who are already deceased are still in force in most regions, while others are being enforced and they affect all walks of life (IFAD, 1992). As much as the topic of globalization is fast fading and it is not being talked about as it once was, it is important for national policy makers to ensure that they still strive to deal with its effects which are widespread especially the social, political and economic effects. There is a relationship between the values of globalization and the settings of national policy and the welfare of the human race as a whole. This can be explored by using structural equation modeling (Cornia, 2000). This model is capable of indicating the link that is present between levels of human development in higher levels, especially in countries where the settings of normative policies are in concordance with the values of the world society. This equation is also capable of giving insight into the more critical roles that this connectedness plays in the explanation of the differences that lie in the different levels of human development where such policies are implemented without focusing more on the human beings that are currently alive (Green, 1990). The debate on globalization has taken a couple of different turns over the past couple of years with many literature having been written on many of its promises that have not been delivered yet, and this is in regard to the living population of the human race (Jose, 1985). This gives rise to the notion that such economic and social policies that are aimed at focusing on the population that is currently living should also be focused on the future generation that is not yet born nor living, with an aim of ensuring that the promises that it makes are fulfilled, due to careful planning with the needs of those individuals that are projected to be living in those years. Focusing on the population that is currently living not only limits the manner in which such policies that affect the society and the economy can be implemented, but it also creates time restrictions for the implementation of these policies which tend to be abandoned too soon before they even mature (Corsini and Viazzo, 1997). Taking a look at one of the social policies that one of the European countries has taken is important in understanding that there needs not only to be implemented policies that cater for the individuals who are currently alive, but also those that are projected to be alive in the future generations. Ireland is one of the countries that have put in place a social policy for the mentally handicapped, which is aimed not only at the currently living society, but also the society that will be in existence in the future generations. Growth is an important aspect in the development of strategies and any action that individuals and entities engage in. Most strategies and events are developed in a manner that ensures growth. Education and business operations are just a few of the systems that are built on the premise of growth thus strategies in these systems will always aim at both qualitative and quantitative development of the people (Choon Heng and Siew Hoey, 1997; Bishop, et al., 1997; and Garnier et al., 1997). One would expect that since development is key in development of operational strategies and personal goals, rapid development would be the ultimate goal. However, this is not the case since rapid development is associated with increased propensity for failure as such growth is normally above the level of infrastructural support. Rapid growth leads to increase in pressure on physical infrastructure and social amenities which lead to collapse in the development of these necessary supports do not match the rate of growth in other systems (Cornia, Jolly and Stewart, 1987). It is something of great concern to note that the issue is still under estimated by lawyers. It was originally put forward by economists though the approach to law had little hope for success. The legal fraternity as a fact has no great concern to economic crimes (Cornia, 2000). By the fact that economics is a social discipline mainly concerned with human behavior in terms of their relationships it is therefore evident that the rules of law go hand in hand with the study of economics (Cornia, 2000). Economics analysis of law usually has two broad categories: positive and normative fields. Positive part of law and economics tries to foresee an outcome of legal guideline if not followed to the letter as argued by Steven (2004). For instance if we look on a positive analysis of tort law we would then predict the effects of liability which is not the same as the rule of negligence. It also explains the development of common law in terms of economic efficiency. Normative approach of law and economics explains the relationship between law and economics and efficiency. It makes policy recommendations on consequences of policies. The normative main concept is the efficiency or the distributive efficiency which is regarded by law and economics scholars as Pareto efficiency Cornia, Jolly and Stewart, 1987). This particular efficiency tries to ensure that when someone is becoming better off there is another person becoming worse off. On understanding the economic analysis of law we keen look on two main things which are, policy analysis and political economy. Transactions expenses are by no means zero, and so if rights are erroneously owed, an expensive transaction will be required to correct this misallocation. If transactions costs are greater than the increase in value from moving the resource to the efficient owner, there may be no corrective mechanism. This can happen in any sort of economy and those persons with control of firms are not necessarily the owners. One important issue of law and economics is that, in market economies, property privileges are well defined in many conditions. The uniqueness of efficient property rights are universality, exceptionally, and transferability. The reason is that fines are transfers and do not create deadweight losses, imprisonment, on the other hand, transfers virtually no wealth from the criminal but causes two forms of deadweight loss: the loss of the criminal's earning power in an unlawful job in the outside world and the cost to taxpayers of providing a prison and guards. Criminal law has been the subject of the most extensive empirical work in law and economics, probably because of the availability of data Economic theory predicts that criminals, like others, respond to incentives, and there is unambiguous evidence that increases in the probability and severity of punishment in a jurisdiction lead to reduced levels of crime in that jurisdiction as noted by Louis & Steven (2002) The central government is a key decision making and policy formulating body and is central to the development and implementation of strategies that affect the nature of the operational environment at a national level. It is worth noting that the operational environment at any level is defined by the nature of policy formulated by the central government which may either promote certain operation while others. Thus if any development is to be made and the incapability of regional bodies in developing relevant systems to ensure sustainability of growth dealt with the central and local governments are the two main entities that have to play a large role in ensuring sustainable development. A look at policy making process by both central and local government leads to one conclusion, there is little hope for development of relevant strategies and sustainable development. The following are some characteristics of government decision making that make sustainability of development a dream in theoretical consideration which is not visible in the practical application of policies (Caldwell, 1986). Policy formulation is of importance in determining the relevance of policies to the needs of the society and should therefore be conducted in a manner that ensures relevance to the needs of the society. The management of the formulation processes is equally important in determining the integrity of the policies resulting from the formulation process and therefore their applicability to the real environment. A look at government policy formulation however leaves nothing to desire of the manner in which decisions are made. Most government decisions are not objective and are developed in response to some disaster or situation that affects the integrity of the government. Tougher immigrations policies were developed by the US government after the September 2001 terrorist attack, there is little doubt that the policies were subject to the attack and lacked the objectives laid out by the US government with regards to immigration (Jose, 1985). Under such a system where policies are developed in response to events, it is unlikely that strategies that will manage crisis before they manifest themselves in the operational environment will be developed. Sustainable development is not an event and if the approaches adopted by most government are a depiction of future trends there is no chance of strategies aimed at truly ensuring sustainable development being developed. Though political systems are built on the premise of representation of the needs of the society, politicians rarely do and if they do the opinions they collect is from a small portion of the people they represent and is therefore not representative of the needs of the people they represent. Sustainable development requires the inclusion of all member of the society thus the approach taken by politicians is a key cause of failure (Chung, 1993). The political system is also to blame for this trend in that the government in power is often under pressure to deliver policies that got them into power irrespective of changes in the environment which could have made the strategies irrelevant. Policy making is therefore subjective and lacks in objectivity required in formulating policies that will ensure sustainable development (Jose, 1985). Most governments pledge to ensure development of the economy because that is what a large part of the electorate is concerned about due to their ignorance on the need for sustainability. Party and personal politics also hinder the formulation of relevant policies as they are given preference over issues of national concern. For a bill to be passed or policy be approved, lobbying and will of the political system are the two factors that are deterministic. The policies may take forever to be passed and in some cases fail at the presidential ascent level due to political differences or public outcry. It is quite clear from the argument brought out that sustainable development is a theoretical approach for development of strategies thus the actual implication may be varied depending on perception of the entities involved, their priorities and resource capabilities. Frameworks are developed to set guidelines for development of relevant strategies and no entity is under any obligation to conform to specifications set by the frameworks (Jose, 1985). The development and implementation of strategies in any organisation are some of the key factors that affect the nature of operations in any environment and are therefore central to the nature of strategies that will be employed by any entity in harnessing the opportunities presented by its operational environment. A look at strategic planning however shows that there are a number of factors that have to be put under consideration if the strategies developed are to be relevant to the objectives and needs of an organisation (Jose, 1985). Formulation of strategies is done at organisational level while sustainable development requires operation between a number of entities to ensure relevance to the needs of the market. It is therefore quite clear from these considerations that sustainable development is nearly impossible to drive at since the nature of the modern operational environment complicates development of sustainable development strategies. Capitalism is defined by some as individualism or self ness and if the strategies developed by entities in the present day operational environment are anything to go by the development of industry wide strategies let alone strategies that are relevant to sustenance of development is an aspect to operations that entities are far from looking at. Though there have been considerable developments in strategies aimed at ensuring natural resources are conserve the same cannot be said regarding culture. Globalisation is a key threat to cultural diversity and spread of vices and competitions which generally favour the developed Western economies. Tourism is a key agent used by globalisation in eroding cultures; governments have developed policies aimed at ensuring growth of tourism as an economic sector. Trade blocks are being developed and mergers conducted as local industry players aim for high levels which include diversifying and growing into new areas as business processes take on a global dimension (Jose, 1985). It is quite clear that as governments claim they are developing their strategies to ensure sustainable growth, the strategic approaches undermine the platform they are based on and lead to increase in levels of competition and erosion of culture which are two dimensions of instability. Sustainable development requires high level formulation and implementations of strategies to ensure sustainability of resources. High level decision making which include regional decision making and bodies like the UN is affected by a large number of factors that may lead to inefficiencies and irrelevance to the needs of the people. High level decision making is subject to poor politics which leads to implementation of poor strategies. Developed nations are well represented in the high level decision making bodies and decisions made tend to favour the development of large multinationals that contribute to their development; such strategies are clearly subjective and such a body can therefore not be trusted to develop strategies that are relevant in ensuring sustainable development (Cornia, 2000). To ensure sustainability of growth there is need to develop both short and long term strategies that will ensure sustainability goals are driven at. High level policy formulation and implementation is slow due to the level of consultation required and politics the implementation of strategies is bureaucratic thus by the times strategies are implemented their relevance to sustainable development will have been lost. Failure in achieving short term goals inevitably places long term goals beyond reach. Bureaucracy and high level consultation are required of high level decision making bodies to reduce the risk of errors which may have considerable effect since strategies formulated by such bodies apply on a large operational environment (Jose, 1985). In general the problems associated with the application of sustainable development strategies are inherent to the principles and theories used in the formulation and implementation of strategies aimed at ensuring strategic development. It is therefore upon the entire social system to ensure that systems put in place to manage the strategies and the operations of different entities are as per the dictates of sustainable development are efficient (Garnier, et al, 1997). This may include restructuring systems and minimising risks of subjective policy formulation. A change of the system is necessary and this should be implemented with the aid of change management principles. The changes should be implemented after wide consultation and all members of the society should be included in the change process which should be carried out at a pace that is neither too fast nor too slow to ensure objectivity and minimise the risk of resistance (Duncan, et al., 1997). Objective economic growth is a key government objective and is a desirable feature of any economy and all governments will always aim for this in development. However, sustainable development is only aimed at if economic trends clearly show that there is risk of collapse if the trends continue or if a crisis results from uncontrolled economic development (Garnier, et al, 1997). In most cases, sustainability is without the considerations used in formulating relevant strategies and is only considered when there are risks of crisis. The issue of the needs of the human population also gives rise to the aspect of welfare economics, which tends to provide the basis for judging the various achievements that such policies that are being implemented achieve in the sense of the allocation of resources (Garnier, et al, 1997). One of the most powerful tools of welfare economics is the utility possibility frontier which is used in defining the allocation of utilities achievable within the society, which are subject to the constraints that are available in terms of the tastes and the technology. This means that any allocation that are present or allocated on the frontier can therefore not be Pareto dominated and thus its satisfaction would be of minimal condition making undesirable socially (Duncan, et al., 1997). There have been criticisms of the manner in which the welfare economic approaches the matter of the processes of policy making, with most of the critics coming from those who operate in the public choice tradition. These criticisms have mainly been based on the manner in which welfare economics has been failing to consider the choices on the actual policy choices and changes are being made (Choon Heng and Siew Hoey, 1997; Bishop, et al., 1997; and Garnier et al., 1997). This proves that no matter how well we are capable of understanding what the optimal policies are, guarantee that the types of decisions that the institutions which are endowed with this responsibility are capable of bringing them out. Thus, by failing to model on the welfare of those individuals that are not yet in existence, fails to provide an appropriate view of the role of such institutions and thus can lead to a mislead conception of such institutions. There are numerous models that may lead to efficient policies but they still fail in the maximization of the social welfare, such as the Leviathan approach. This can be seen in the manner in which politicians tend to extract resources for their own benefit, while it tends to be at the expense of the common voters. Most of the norms that are enforced are normally considered to be public goods. Thus, the enforcement of such norms successfully can provide benefits to most members of the society, while at the same time tend to provide costs that are private to the enforcer of the norms. Individuals also tend to enforce norms in order to avoid certain sanctions that may be imposed on them, were they non enforcers (Duncan, et al., 1997). Conclusion Welfare economics is much more concerned with the fair distribution of resources and fair allocation of income and as such, it should remain that way: fair. This is regardless of the state of life that individuals are in as it is for the better of the state as it has been illustrated throughout this paper, and thus the focus should shift away from only the people who are currently alive. Sustainable development is a theoretical platform for the development of strategies that ensure sustainability of operational strategies and should be well understood by all entities that are involved in the formulation of strategies. The principles and theories of sustainable development which include uniformity in growth of diverse areas of operations and promoting diversification should be championed for they are key factors that lead to differences in operations. Due the nature of the operational environment there is little that can be done to minimise volatility though much can be done to deal with its effects. Sustainability require high level policy development and the inclusion of all entities in the collection and use of information, however bodies responsible for the development of policy at such high level have failed the society due to their personal ambition and systems put in place by the society that hinder development of policies that would ensure sustainable growth. Since challenges facing the formulation and implementation of policies regarding sustainable development are inherent of the social system, it will take the social system and all its will to ensure relevant strategies and systems are put in place to support sustainable development not only for the people who are currently alive, but also for the future generations. References Alailima, P. and Sanderatne, N. 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