The defense minister is responsible for defense. If a war breaks out, we expect him to take charge. The health minister is responsible for health. If a pandemic breaks out, he or she is the one we turn to for help. The interior minister is responsible for internal affairs and the foreign minister is responsible for international ones.
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But what is the economy minister's responsibility? The prevailing view in centralized and communist states is that the economy minister is responsible for the economy. According to the economic Left, he is responsible for directing the economy and sometimes even managing it hands-on. Ministers of economy (or industry or commerce) imposed heavy orders and regulations in order to subordinate the economy to the will of the government.
They determined how many shoes a factory can produce and at what price those shoes should be sold. The stronger the attempt to manage the economy, the more glorious the failure.
Look at history! The countries of the Communist Bloc collapsed not because they were invaded, but because they were full of ministers and bureaucrats trying to overmanage their economies. And countries that continue with this approach – Venezuela and North Korea – are mostly the object of ridicule and pity from developed countries.
But we don't have to look as far as the communist states. Look at Germany: it has surpassed the British economy, even though after World War II, the country was destroyed, with barely a building standing and half the workforce having been killed in the fighting.
Why? Because London chose to manage the economy with its ministers and quotas, tariffs, regulations, licenses, and other obstacles, while Berlin opted for a free market economy.
In Israel, most economy ministers migrated from politics and took a "managerial" approach to their job, even though they never managed anything, never initiated anything, or created anything of value. Most engaged in making political alliances with lobbyists, with industrialists who wanted to limit competition, and with workers' unions that took care of fictitious workplaces.
Throughout most of its history, the Economy Ministry was engaged in taking from the poor and giving to the rich. As such, instead of helping the Israeli economy grow, such practices only hindered the process.
Netanyahu made a wise choice by appointing Nir Barkat as economy minister. Contrary to his predecessors, he came into politics from the business and entrepreneurial sector and does not believe in dividing the economy pie among his associates, but growing it for the benefit of the public. Barkat understands that it's about encouraging entrepreneurship and competition rather than filling the coffers of the one percent.
One word alone should guide him in his tenure: growth.
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