NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS 'THE THIRD WAY -- BETWEEN NE0-LIBERALISM AND THE WELFARE STATE'
Press Release
NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS 'THE THIRD WAY -- BETWEEN NE0-LIBERALISM AND THE WELFARE STATE'
19981106 TO BE DISCUSSED AT HEADQUARTERSThe General Assembly Second Committee (Economic and Financial) begins its discussion on the report of the Secretary-General on "The public sector -- public economics and public management", on 10 November. On this occasion, the Chairman of the Committee, Bagher Asadi (Iran), in cooperation with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, will convene a panel on the subject "The third way -- between neo-liberalism and the welfare state". Immediately following, the panellists will brief the media in Room S-226 at 3 p.m.
Panellists who will brief the media are: Professor Anthony Giddens, Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, who is the main proponent of this concept; Professor Linda Lim, Director of South-East Asia Programme, School of Business, University of Michigan; Kwame Pianim, Chief Executive Officer, New World Investment Ltd.; and Jacques Baudot, Director of the Copenhagen Seminar on Social Policy.
The contemporary debate about the adequate role of states and markets is characterized by the alleged dichotomy between a neo-liberal, minimalistic state and a welfare state. Neo-liberals want to limit the role of the state to the correction of market failures. The "third way concept" recognizes the importance of functioning markets but also the essential role of state interventions. It stresses at the same time the need to reconsider certain state functions and to ensure that the management of the public sector is efficient.
For further information, contact Albrecht Horn, Deputy Director, Division of Public Economics and Public Administration of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs at tel: (212) 963-3924, or Saleem Fahmawi, Information Officer, Development and Human Rights Section, Department of Public Information, at tel: (212) 963-1887.
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