His audience merely fidgeted. Soros and certainly not us. But like most tales told by politicians, it is not really true. Government may not be growing as fast as it has in the past, but it is certainly not shrinking. Even as they pay lip service to market forces and empowered citizens, governments are in fact spending more and regulating more.
Old habits are hard to break.
In a recent survey of the world economy, The Economist 's Clive Crook examined official spending in 17 rich, developed nations. Between 1980 and 1996, governments at all levels increased their share of the economy in all but three countries - the UK, the Netherlands, and Ireland. Even in the United States, during 16 years of Reagan-inspired government bashing and market promoting, government spending still grew from just under 32 percent of the economy in 1980 to just over 33 percent in 1996. As at home, so abroad. Global markets limit the effectiveness of national regulation.