How the Social Contract Broke | An Economist Explains | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

When Did Society Stop Working for the People in It?

With social contracts outdated or broken, how might we restore reason for optimism?

Anyone who’s seen an episode of "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Wonder Years" knows how the American dream is supposed to work: the white picket fence, the suburban home, and the 2.5 handsome young children playing in the backyard. It’s a sort of social contract, one that this country has built its identity around for the last half century. But is that dream dead? Or at the very least, far outdated? Few young people today can expect a stable career without an expensive college education and many older people are spending far more years in retirement than past generations. So what do we do when the social contract breaks down? And how do we patch up all the holes in the social safety net? London School of Economics director Minouche Shafik shares some solutions (hint: “free money” isn’t one of them).

#GZEROWorld #MinoucheShafik #SocialContract

[darbyheavey]

My dad had the same job; a Linotype operator, from 1936 until 1976. That level of technological stability no longer exists. He worked for several different newspapers and shifts. His union was once the most powerful union in the US- it negotiated the 40 hr work week in the 1920s. The union went bust and his pension was wiped out. We fantasize that the post war was perfect. That said my Dad could support a family of six on his wages.

[greorbowlfinder]

Wrong. We have a meritocracy. Meritocracy means the people actually doing the work have nothing in common with the criminals who climbed the ladders of power. Meritocracy means the worst people among us end up in charge based on their measurable results. And the people in charge all have to be replaced periodically based on their performance. It is evaluation time.

[KARW]

Not sure how you manage to ignore income inequality as a factor, LOL

[aidanmagill]

Show me my copy of this contract, I have absolutely no recollection of signing it. Never mind what this cultist says, he's part of the problem.
You want problems like these solved? Free the market.