When government adopts a principle to guide its decision making and action that benefit the population for whom it is representing can be termed as Public Policy. All decisions and actions taken by the government to tackle public issues come under public policy. It proposes the social, moral and economic values to keep the society together. Public policy may be crafted at local, state, federal, or international level, and a wide range of sectors such as health, education, social development, human resources, technology, defense, terrorism; justice, etc. are touched upon by it. All public policy of the country must be consistent and aligned to the law and institutional customs of that country.
Summary of Article “Jobs and Public Policy”
This article is by Bob McTeer, a fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a CNBC contributor, a former Chancellor of the university and a former Dallas Federal President. The article published in Forbes’s website, is simple and yet conveys profound concepts of economics. It cautions the policy makers with a statement “having higher levels of employment and lower levels of unemployment are highly desirable.” The reference to the French economist F.Bastiat’s “broken window,” gives a satirical allegory that in trying to increase the number of jobs by prohibiting heavy construction equipment and making the construction workers to use shovels, and in extreme cases allowing them to use spoons. The message is that public policy on employment should not protect jobs that are obsolete or unproductive, but productivity enhancements should be the focal point. Only productive contributions create value in the society and would sustain in the long term. Productivity gains cause wages to increase in real terms (increase in output per hour worked) and cause an increase in consumer’s standards of living - this is real economic growth.
Summary of Article “Inheritance Tax: It just won’t die”
The article is published in the magazine “The Economist” in the year 2004, August edition, with a topic on Inheritance tax and its impact on people (UK citizens). Inheritance Tax, introduced in 1986 is a transfer tax, to cover the rich who legate huge wealth to their heirs, but the wealthy has many loopholes to avoid tax with the help of tax experts. It is the middle class who become the prey to such policies. The short article concludes by saying inheritance tax has many disadvantages such as, it discourages certain wealth creating patterns, encourages consumption over savings, and motivates investment into exempt assets like farms, family businesses, etc.The inheritance taxation promotes only tax-avoidance culture. The reasons for disliking this taxable; first, it is applied at the time of loss of dear ones and mourning, second, the property and personal savings are accumulated by the predecessor by paying income tax, third on inheritance the property is taxed again which leads to double taxation. Making public policy is a challenge for the policy makers as they have to care for the interests of multiple groups.
Summary of Article “A Public Policy Expert Looks at the Bird Flu Threat”
The article is an interview to Laurie Garrett (expert in public policy), presented in the blog of New York Times, about the public policy implications of bird flu (H5N1) and bioterrorism. Laurie urges the governments to make public policy of suspending all synthetic biology experiments or at least not to publish the experiments. Finally, the interview calls a political cooperation among countries to sign a treaty agreeing to prohibit experiments harmful to humanity. She agrees that the task is not easy and optimistic, but need to be carried out for the benefit of humanity. The public policy suggested by Laurie has bearing at international level, and the countries must cooperate to implement it effectively to penetrate them at the remotest places.
Wrap up
Public Policy is the set of decisions and actions that shape the way the country or region is managed. OECD 1997, views that the principal role of any government is to support the economic and social welfare of its people. Through policies, macroeconomic strength, creation of employment, support for education, stimulation of innovation and entrepreneurship, and benchmarking environmental quality, health, and safety are achieved.Failure to craft policies can disadvantage an economic or social sector; hence the policy making body must be sharp, perspicacious and creative in its thinking.
REFERENCES
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), 1997, The OECD Report on Regulatory Reform,Paris: OECD.
Reynolds, P. D., 1999, ‘Creative Destruction: Source orSymptom of Economic Growth?’, in Z. J. Acs, B. Carlssonand C. Karllson (eds.), Entrepreneurship, Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Macro economy,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 97–136.
Bob McTeer , “Jobs and Public Policy”, Forbes, Washington, 2012. Retrieved June 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobmcteer/2012/11/06/jobs-and-public-policy/
Laurie Garret, “Public Policy Expert Looks at the Bird Flu Threat”, Consults: The new York times Blog, 2012. Retrieved June 2014,http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/a-public-policy-expert-looks-at-the-bird-flu-threat/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&_r=1
The Economist, “Inheritance Tax: It just won’t die”, 2004.Retrieved June 2014, http://www.economist.com/node/3135923
