Harrington Blasts Reaganomics, Sees Political Changes Ahead

Criticizing the Reagan administration's pro-business stance, Michael Harrington, national chairman of the 5300-member Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC), yesterday afternoon called for the "democratization of corporate power" as an "alternative policy for the 80s."

Speaking at the Science Center before a receptive crowd of 150, Harrington called President Reagan's election "the end of the old politics." Neither conservatives nor liberals have viable solutions, Harrington said, emphasizing the need for a new alternative in American politics.

Since Franklin D. Roosevelt '04 was president, the American government has left "decisions of social importance" to private corporations, Harrington said, calling for changes that would subject corporate power to political review.

Harrington criticized Reagan's policies as contradictory and cruel. The Administration is wrong in assuming that unemployment and inflation are the result of high federal deficits, he said. Deficits, he added, are "the effect, not the cause of the economic problems."

Harrington said the conventional Democratic Party analysis of the 1980 Republican electoral sweep--which emphasizes more effective use of computers and electoral tactics--ignores the necessity to address the real issues presented by reform-oriented groups within the party.

Worker input into corporate decisions is beneficial to the country as a whole, Harrington added, noting that the United Auto Workers demanded a shift to small car production as early as 1949.

He also suggested interest rates to discourage the use of capital funds for speculative investment and to encourage productive investment. "A worker buying a house should not have to pay the same rate as a Wall Street speculator," he said.

Gloomy Backdrop

Because it includes all of the important "progressive" elements, the Democratic Party will serve as "the arena" for the development of the new policies, Harrington said. DSOC will work within the party, acting as the "left wing of the possible."

Harrington, currently a professor of Political Science at Queens College in New York City, has authored several books, including "The Other America," "Socialism," and "The Vast Majority." He recently returned from France, where he attended a leadership meeting of the Socialist International.

The Harvard-Radcliffe chapter of DSOC and the Institute of Politics co-sponsored the event.