Role of the State Pt. 5

When I teach the History of Economic Thought, one thing we focus on is how views on the role of the state have changed over time. It has a natural cycle to it, with eras such as the highly interventionist Mercantilist years followed by Physiocratic and Classical views stressing minimal government intervention. This is followed by a rebound in the other direction, and so it goes with a Keynes followed by a Friedman in the 50s, a rebound back to Keynes in the 60s, to classical ideas following the experience of the 70s, and so on, and so on.
Protection, justice, correction of externalities, social insurance, and the provision of public goods (which I would like to have seen emphasized more above) are, in my view, legitimate roles of the state. I have more trouble when it comes to redistribution, I prefer that everyone have an equal chance in life with the chips falling where they may (with insurance against outcomes where individuals end up with too few chips). But redistribution to correct problems associated with, say, uncorrected market failures that redistribute income unfairly, or to compensate for an unequal playing field more generally, is another matter.

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