Editors' Blog

How free-market are lawyers feeling as public solutions turn the tide?

Posted 19/09/2008 by John Malpas

The commentator Polly Toynbee came in for some predictable stick from readers recently when I highlighted an extract from her latest book in which she quizzed a group of senior lawyers on their deeply hostile attitudes towards taxation as a means of wealth redistribution.

I was reminded of the debate while listening to the Today Programme this morning. Presenter Evan Davies and North America editor Justin Webb were chewing the cud over the US Government’s plans to restore confidence on Wall Street by creating a government-sponsored vehicle to take over the banks’ toxic assets.

They were reflecting on the US’s remarkable ability to get itself into trouble and then get out of jail in ways that do not fit comfortably with the free market model it is supposed to champion.

“Historically there has been a willingness among American administrations to effectively nationalise problematic debt in a way that doesn’t really fit with the orthodoxy of how all these things should work,” said Webb. “And I think the expectation is that they will do that again.”

It is very early days, but news that the US administration’s rescue plan, coupled with bans on short-selling on both sides of the Atlantic, has sparked share rallies across the world.

For me, one of the most striking aspects of Toynbee’s research was the deep hostility of the high-flying lawyers she talked to towards the state and the public sector.

Asked whether they should pay any more tax, their response, according to Toynbee, “ranged from threat to bluster to attack”. “Response one: we will leave, and you will be poorer. Or: we don't deserve to be forced to pay more. Or: even if we were taxed more, the money would all be wasted.”

I wonder whether current circumstances will prompt any of these lawyers to reappraise their views.