ABSTRACT
In societies where the division of labour has been carried so far in the interests of the community as a whole that each member is economically dependent on every other, it is an implied term of the social contract that every individual who is willing to work should have the right to do so. Although there are times when political debate appears to be concerned with little else, unemployment and inflation are not legitimate problems of politics any more than are measles and whooping-cough. In the 1960s, economic theory was a battlefield. “Keynesians” and “Monetarists” fought to the death. During the 1980s, under the banner of Market-Freedom, the New SingleGear Orthodoxy swept the world. It affected capitalist and communist countries alike. Market flexibility had been increased beyond recognition. Inflation is curbed by monetary restrictions which prevent economic activity from reaching the natural level that would otherwise be determined by market forces.
