Heartening Times For Progressive Capitalism

I write a lot of posts about what angers me out there in the world. Let's flip that on its head and highlight some good news, all of which are around the same theme: progressive economics. Consider what's been happening just in the past few days:

• Wal-Mart was ordered to pay $78 million dollars in Pennsylvania for violating labor laws, including forcing employees to work off-hours and during breaks. Regulations on workplaces mean nothing unless there are teeth behind them. When people are ripped off by their bosses and the bosses are made to pay, it's a good day in America.

• Hundreds of top economists have urged a raise in the minimum wage of at least a dollar, on up to $2.50. Nobody in this country can live on $5.15 an hour. And leading economists are finally coming around on this. Raising wages for workers does not kill the economy, in fact it makes it more robust by raising purchasing power and rewarding work. This is a major reversal, albeit more because of how long it's been since the last minimum wage increase.

• The Nobel Committee decided to note the global security value of raising people out of poverty by bestowing their Peace Prize on a man who pioneered the practice of microcredit. Muhammad Yunus provides collateral-free loans as little as $30 to brutally poor people in the developing world, to give them the ability to provide for their families, start small businesses, and eventually work their way out of their plight. Microcrediting is finally taking hold in economic circles as an effective way to pull people out of poverty. And yes, it is an issue of war and peace. Societies which have upward mobility, where everyone hass a chance to realize their dreams, are societies which are far less susceptible to fundamentalist and extremist rhetoric. Enlightened economic policy like this makes far more of a dent in the war on terror than catastrophic wars of choice.

• Even China is coming around on worker protections, understanding that their policies of allowing massive labor exploitation is unsustainable. They're proposing baseline standards for union negotiations, and setting penalties for maltreatment of workers. These are baby steps, but moves closer to the kind of global labor and environmental standards that would allow real globalization and real economic competition worldwide, rather than the kind of race to the bottom we have now. Not surprisingly, this proposal by the Chinese is being fought by... multinational corporations! This couldn't be more telling. But it's also doomed to failure. You can simply not suppress every worker on the planet.

• Finally, the environment has become a definitive economic issue, and industries great and small are making decisions based on their environmental impact. The Christian Science Monitor notes that the insurance industry has come to the front lines of the global warming debate. From discounts in insurance for hybrid cars, to cutting insurance for "green" buildings and homes, to teaching corporate board members about the importance of climate change. Risk assessment models have changed for the insurance industry as climate patterns have changed and dangerous storms have increased. It's in the industry's economic interest to stop the disastrous effects of global warming.

• And when rock bands refuse to tour unless they can lower their carbon footprint, it's clear these issues are way out in the open. You wouldn't hear that 10 years ago. You wouldn't hear it 2 years ago.

These are all symptomatic of a growing realization that the neoliberal model of globalization and free trade isn't working for enough people. And the market, as well as sensible people who see the signposts ahead, have combined to bring us around to a true progressive capitalism which provides opportunity and potential for everyone on the planet.