In Mida, Amnon Lord asks economist Michael Sarel about why he resigned from Israels Finance Ministry, which Israeli cartels can be broken, the minimum wage, the Histadrut, energy regulation, the role of the haredi and Arab populations in Israels economic growth, Naftali Bennett, Benjamin Netanyahu, and much else. Heres an excerpt from Sarel: The central issue for the next few years is to raise market productivity and subsequently bring Israel closer to leading countries in quality of life. After 2003-2005, we’ve dealt mostly with the short terms and ostensible social justice. Increasing productivity and per-capita income is more important than the gaps issue. There is an improvement regarding inequality in recent years; its lower than eight years ago. To constantly harp on the gaps issue wont help. Because of the great mobility and the trips abroad, Israelis look more at what they see there and compare it to their situation at home. If the points of comparison were once Petah Tikvah and Tel Aviv, today its between Petah Tikvah and Berlin. We need to reduce that gap between Tel Aviv and Berlin. It is wrong to focus on gaps among ourselves rather than increase life quality and satisfaction. Im pessimistic in the sense that policy today doesnt handle problems, but Im not entirely pessimistic about changing the policy. It depends on the politicians, the economists and the public atmosphere.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:03:09 +0000
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