The term liberal refers to the process of supporting proposals for reforms, opening up to new ideas in pursuit of progress, and being accommodative of people’s ideas and behaviours, which can simply be regarded as being broad-minded. Classical liberalism, on the other hand, has been described as the notion that government engagement in matters of the economy within the marketplace does not serve to promote growth. In that, the market alone can be depended upon to regulate the economy by seeing to it that effective business people prosper while ineffective business people sublime. Therefore, the law of demand and supply has the best chance of determining the prices of goods as compared to the interference of the government, which concurs with Jefferson’s statement that the best government is one that rules the least. However, classical liberalism brings about imperfect competition and monopoly of the market hence, the introduction of modern liberalism serves as a check to classical liberalism as it ensures people benefit from the freedom to live at adequate levels.
Modern liberalism is the answer to the various unfair economic systems that people have been subjected to due to classical liberalism. One of the measures that have seen citizens enjoy fair trade is the minimum wage policy. Driving the government from the market led to employers exercising their monopoly powers through deciding the amount of salaries that they will pay their employees, which mostly results to underpayment (Forrester, 2013). However, involving the government in the various market practices has made it possible for the setting of the least wage an employer should pay the employees, but the states can choose to set their own minimum wage. With the minimum wage in place, businesses will be able to estimate the amount of money they will be paying employees; hence, making it possible for the creation of new jobs in addition to knowing the number of employees who can be supported. Minimum wage policy is also of benefit to families considering that a large number of parents are minimum wage earners. Therefore, failure to implement the minimum wage policy may lead to destabilization in these families because children may be forced to go out and seek employment. It is in this regard that Keynes (2016) observed that for an economy to be successful, both socially and economically, there has to be significant contributions from the private sectors and the government.
Modern liberalism has also seen the implementation of unemployment insurance that entails giving individual’s benefits who have lost their jobs for other reasons other than their own making or mistake. In case an unemployed worker meets the least either requirements that have been set by the federal or state government, he or she is eligible to receive such benefits on temporary benefit until another job opportunity comes along. Various catastrophic events may render corporations bankrupt or unable to support their employees, which implies that they will lose their source of livelihood. In most cases, the management of these firms would not struggle to ensure that such employees continue to provide for their families; hence, the involvement of the government is seen as the best option (Insole, 2004). Through the unemployment insurance, workers who have been rendered jobless will be able to put food on the tables for their families for the periods that they do not have any job. Unfair economic systems like the present recession have seen the government pass a provisional employment compensation policy that offers benefits for around thirteen weeks to all employees who have already used their regular benefits.
The other policy that has been realized through modern liberalism is unionization where employees are able to come together and raise their common grievances to their employers. Unions provide a platform via which their employers can hear employees’ grievances and even quicken the speed at which their issues are addressed. The present economic systems have led to the increase in the gap between the poor and the rich considering that the amount of salaries between these two groups varies considerably. However, making use of unions has helped to curb this gap because the management can address issues concerning pay rise adequately, an issue that might take forever if employees sought pay reviews individually (Henry, 2016). Additionally, unions have lowered the levels of turnover considering that employers need to have a substantive reason to sack their employees due to the risk of being sued, which will see them lose more money. Therefore, modern liberalism is seen as a more effective approach because the government mandates organizations to allow their employees to join these unions to raise their grievances collectively.
In conclusion, it is clear that modern liberalism has brought the administration back into the open market to safeguard persons from biased financial systems through the implementation of policies like minimum wage, unionization, and unemployment insurance. With the minimum wage in place, businesses are able to estimate the amount of money they will be paying employees; hence, making it possible for the creation of new jobs in addition to knowing the number of employees who can be supported. Modern liberalism has also seen to it that unemployment insurance is enacted where workers who have been rendered jobless will be able to put food on the table for their families for the periods that they do not have any job. Unionization has also lowered the levels of turnover considering that employers need to have a substantive reason to sack their employees due to the risk of being sued, which will see them lose more money.
References
Forrester, K. (2013). The Making of Modern Liberalism. The Political Quarterly, 84(2), 303-305.
Henry, C. (2016). Review of" Hayek’s Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the Evolution of Social Institutions" by Steven Horwitz. Journal of Markets & Morality, 19(1).
Insole, C. J. (2004). Against Radical Orthodoxy: The Dangers Of Overcoming Political Liberalism. Modern Theology, 20(2), 213-241.
Keynes, J. M. (2016). Keynesian Economics in a nutshell. Retrieved from https://www.maynardkeynes.org/maynard-keynes-economics.html
