Dur two centuries before the discussion about the size of government has dealt with almost obsessive way economists West. Since the publication of The Wealth of Nations Smith in the late eighteenth century, became a priority a desire to promote a free economy based on private initiative, best tool to optimize the allocation of resources. Thus early liberal economic theory postulates a small government, with limited duties that are not different things to those public goods that the private sector is not willing to provide in the market. Hence, if the State governments extends beyond the administration of justice, national defense and public job creation unproductive but necessary functions are overreaching and beyond what is required.
In the same way as did the economic crisis of the 30's and the subsequent formulation of New Deal, as an expression materialized Keynesian economic model, the State accumulated other functions well beyond rational limit accepted by the economic doctrine that ruled politics for over a century. A small State was necessarily an efficient, it was believed, as he gave the market a unique ability to efficiently allocate the resources necessary for the welfare of the inhabitants of a country. After of the crisis, which left 25% of the global workforce unemployed, the state took over functions of social security, health, education, public investment in infrastructure and a configuration similar to that of the "welfare state" that prevails to this day large number of countries.
promoting liberal principles, then, leaning on a small state that values \u200b\u200bindividual freedom expressed through free enterprise is the supreme value justifying any kind of constitutional reforms to give coherence to State this principle. However, the major point of analysis that may distort The aim of the discussion was to have been taken as an indicator of the size of the state share of resources that the nation goes to maintenance, in other words, the ratio of public spending and GDP. So, a phenomenon as the economic crisis can lead to spending 12% of GDP, in the case of industrialized nations, 30% after the war and the devastating effects of the Great Depression, as it happened in the UK.
So the general idea of \u200b\u200bthe configuration of the state was closely linked to spending and not the government of the strategic issues state that after the crisis were best recognized. It is not wise to move away from the impact of public spending in economies such as the recent crises have shown public debt in Europe, but it is prudent based on the notion of state as the state little more lenient with economic efficiency. It is likely that when the analysis focuses on the sector executive in charge of economic management disastrous mistakes, such as underestimating the set of legislative or judicial bodies.
So it appears another notion: the topic can not be reduced to a simple question of size and magnitudes, but the important thing is the role of the state against the economic and social problems and ways of interaction between state and society. In other words, while public spending is a good indicator of whether the state is larger than what is socially necessary, is not to know if the public sector is good or not their task. It is likely that, as in Chile, with fewer resources, the Government will achieve better economic performance, while countries with excessive spending, such as Venezuela, would have cost a deadweight loss and discrete social outcomes. On the other hand, Colombia sought to reduce public spending but did not get the results Expected deficit increased and there is no evidence that the performance of the Colombian economy had any connection with the reform of the state early in 2002. So although the first example is consistent with the economic orthodoxy in the second case it is not so, or how to explain from the perspective of small government that despite the reform of central government deficit has continued to rise?
is important that in reforming the state would not assume that this suffers from a congenital natural inability to promote development or be associated with 'reform' with 'reduction', in that case it is prudent to define what strategic issues the state must be strong. Hence the need for the project underway in the Congress that gives extraordinary powers to the Colombian government to reform the state.
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