Philip Blond's reform conservatism

One of the brightest theorists behind Britain's new conservatism writes approvingly of new market reform moves by the UK's shadown chancellor. Excerpts:

All of this is refreshing indeed; it marks the beginning of a genuinely conservative rather than neo-liberal approach to political economy. Such an account would not assume that market outcomes are self-justifying; instead, it would craft a conservative vision of the good society and organise markets to foster and achieve this goal.

Gordon Brown, the prime minister, has also spoken of the end of the Washington consensus - but there is no evidence that he is thinking beyond restoring the paradigm that is in such crisis. Indeed, the arid centralism of Mr Brown - and, for that matter, Barack Obama, US president - seems committed to nothing more than a bail-out of monopolised markets by a newly enthroned monopoly state.

If carried through, the new logic of British Conservatism requires a break-up of this cosy corporatist duopoly and its replacement by a decentralised civic economy that crafts together moral values and economic power to create the type of society that most people want to live in: empowered, secure and sustainable communities of shared virtue and prosperity.

Integrating the social and the economic requires further logical extensions of principle. If markets tend to monopoly, creating banks too big to fail, it follows that similar cartels exist elsewhere. Indeed, such "Chicago school" monopolies predominate. In Britain, five supermarkets control more than 70 per cent of food retailing, while in the US, Wal-Mart has eviscerated competition. Local businesses from pubs to post offices are eroded by conglomerates that benefit from hidden subsidies and whose costs to society are not priced in. They out-compete everything else on economies of scale.

From the world of high finance to the local high street, regulators have created a model of competition that eliminates competitors. Conservatives need new models of antitrust law to encourage genuine competition across the economy. This would demand a widening of ownership and deliver a big increase in innovation, productivity and local variation. Allowing more people to participate in markets will help to address rising inequalities of opportunity, character and capability.

The failure to address these issues has led to a complete destruction of the liquid assets and capital of the poor: half the population now owns just 1 per cent of non-propertied wealth. A fully engaged economy requires new associative models of equity and ownership such as time banking, fractional ownership and social bonds to generate wealth and influence for all.

If I were a Republican politician who had any interest of still being in office in 2012, or even running for president, I would buy Philip Blond a plane ticket to the US and pay for a week of his time. If you missed Blond's long essay on the "Rise of the Red Tories," read it quick! It's basically crunchy conservatism conceived by an actually intelligent person instead of a prolix publicist (namely, Your Working Boy).

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