How does press freedom factor into current global concerns over the financial markets and the drying up of credit?
I just went to a conference that discussed the relationship between the economy and the rule of law. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was featured as the keynote speaker. (See “Former Federal Reserve Chairman Predicts Economic Rebound.”)
In the middle of his remarks on how legal guarantees accorded to property rights and ownership have elevated general standards of living since the early 18th century, Greenspan pointed to how a free press, along with the protection of minority rights, has proven “the most effective form to safeguard [private] property.”
His argument is that the watchdog role of the press and its ability to inform the population contribute to economic stability.
“[D]emocracies rarely allow discontent to rise to a point that leads to explosive changes in economic regimes,” he said. This stands in contrast with authoritarian states that, even if operating under a capitalist economy, are “inherently unstable because [discontent] forces aggrieved citizens to seek redress outside the law.”
He quoted Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s observation that “no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press.”
Why is this? According to Greenspan, it’s because the news media in authoritarian regimes tend towards self-censorship. “[M]arket-interventionist policies – the most prevalent cause of disrupted distribution of food – go unreported and uncorrected until too late.”
So, if you’re living in a society with a relatively free press, consider the possibility that all the gloomy stories you’re reading about the economy might be helping to prevent an even greater crisis.
Comments (2)
goolloog
8 November 2008 at 20:25 EST
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Stephen Kaufman
America.gov Staff
11 November 2008 at 14:08 EST
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hi goolloog,
I think what Greenspan & Amartya Sen are saying is that a free press which can investigate and spread uncensored information to the public is ultimately a source of stability, and it also provides a sort of “early warning” for impending crises.
It’s hard to have faith in the government or the legal system when you don’t know what is going on and cannot trust those whose job it is to tell you what’s going on. Without faith in “the system” people are more likely to try to redress real and perceived wrongs on their own terms. Doing so puts your own personal and property rights at risk. Lack of trust in the legal rights that are supposed to apply to everyone means that they won’t be recognized or enforced.
So, if there is going to be faith or trust in the system and a willingness to live under a common established rule of law, the public needs independent and trustworthy information provided by a free press that will not only use its watchdog role to put the government on notice when it violates the public trust, but will also reassure the public when the government is acting in their interest.
I found this quote by U.S. founding father James Madison (1751-1836) to be rather appropriate since it addresses both the importance of a free press, but also its role in providing stability:
“Nothing could be more irrational than to give the people power, and to withhold from them information without which power is abused. A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with power which knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both.”