Civil Society Watch

It is evident that, among other factors, the functioning of the welfare state as well as the institutional richness and democratic reach of the civil society depends heavily on the economic efficiency of a given society. Now, the question is: what does economic efficiency depend on? There are several different answers, each of them depending on their theoretical background. Neoliberals or neoclassical economists stress the meaning of the "invisible hand" of a free-market system as the crucial prerequisite for achieving the best distribution of productive factors, of finding the best path of innovation and evolution, and for realizing the highest possible speed for economic growth, i.e., material welfare provision. Of course there are many doubts about this answer, even within the neoliberal discourse. But although there may be no best distribution, no best path and no highest possible speed of growth, deeply convinced liberals hold that there is no better solution than that produced by the anonymous market mechanism.