PATERNALISM: A fundamental philosophical viewpoint that the private sector (households and businesses) needs to be watched over--like a parent--by the public sector (government). In other words, members of society need to be watched over, cared for, and kept out of trouble, like parents watch over, care for, and keep their children out of trouble. This philosophy of paternalism should be contrasted directly with the philosophy of laissez faire, which essentially says "Hey, we're all grown ups here, we can make our own decisions."

     See also | government | public sector | business | private sector | laissez faire | liberal | conservative | first estate | second estate | third estate | regulation | social regulation | market failures | externalities | market control | demand-management policies | stabilization policies | unemployment | business cycles |

PATERNALISM, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2020. [Accessed: October 25, 2020].

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The aggregate macroeconomic sector that contains everyone and everything beyond the political boundaries of the domestic economy--including households, businesses, and governments in other countries. The primary function of the foreign sector is to undertake external activity that is outside the control of the domestic economy. This is one of the four macroeconomic sectors. The other three are household sector, business sector, and government sector.

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