Equality and Competition aren't mutually exclusive

In British media and British Political culture you will often hear Conservatives saying that they would prefer that Britain looked more like America in Growth than Swedish “Equality” but these things aren’t mutually exclusive, in fact they’re myth’s perpetuated by those with the most to gain from an American style Growth model.

If we look at Sweden for example, they have a massive welfare state, they’re practically famous for it. They’re one of the most well-looked-after societies in the world but they also have a consistently growing economy. Why is this? Well, Growth isn’t that complex, its not about the money generated by companies, its ultimately generated by money being spent.

If no one has any money, then no money is being spent, nothing is being bought and growth goes down, causing a recession. But if you give people money via good wages, bargaining rights, social safety nets and good state pensions then there is money changing hands. Dare I say it, people have disposable income that can go towards things people want, not just need. Which benefits small businesses ultimately, allows them to grow and contributes way more to a countries growth overall than just corporations being able to keep more of their income.

More businesses allows for more diversity, not just in types of businesses, governance structures, products, services, standards, etc but also allows more choice to the consumer and more choice in work environment for workers. It shortens the turnover of workers, turnover meaning how many new workers last a year of working in a new position or job.

Imagine a world where you can just leave your job and still pay rent, get healthcare and move to a job at a small business that fits more with your work style and needs without having to give up any of your needs. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Well, that’s how much of the world works to some extent.

But sadly, there are many people who risk loosing a couple of million in dividends if these things were to become the norm in the USA or wherever you happen to be. So they buy out politicians, or lobby politicians to make sure these kinds of things never happen. They peddle the idea that their big corporations are the job creators when in reality its the consumers that create jobs, not them.

When consumers buy from a store, they create revenue for that store, as the number of consumers increases, so does the revenue. The store now has a bunch more money than it normally would so now it can expand, either by creating more products, expanding product lines, building a new store, etc and in doing that they create new jobs and roles to sell those new things. That’s what creates jobs and growth, not the CEO’s or corporations on their own, its not a act of benevolence, its a act of survival. Any company that demands tax cuts, grants, loans, special planning permission or cutting of standards to “create new jobs” should not be in business and its a wonder how they grew so large when any expansion of their employee base is a tit-for-tat with the Government.

Economic Growth and a more equal society should never be a choice, they can and do work in tandem with eachother often creating much more stable growth. In the USA, you may have an ever-growing economy but as we were told as children, what goes up, must come down. When economies grow too quickly, they crash… and they crash hard. When you maintain stable growth with safety nets, you ensure that any crash in the economy can be handled in a humane way that benefits business, workers and consumers in a fair manner rather than doing what the USA and England did when Covid hit, which was scramble and panic.