Forging a political agenda in good economic times.

• Author: Bresler, Robert J.

For the children of mid-century America who grew up against a background of permanent crisis--war, cold war, economic uncertainties--tranquility seems against the laws of nature. If times were prosperous at home, there usually was an international crisis to fray one's nerves. Governing in those years inevitably meant making unpopular decisions. Most presidents saw their popularity dwindle as their terms wore on. The two presidents of the Cold War era who never really wore out their welcome with the public--Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan--were admired for their strength of character even by those who didn't agree with their policies. Now, with prosperity at home and peace abroad, the public supports a president whose private behavior they wouldn't tolerate within their own family. His sexual indiscretions and fundraising scandals barely garner a yawn.

The explanation is simple. The economy has been growing at more than three percent a year; unemployment is below five percent; inflation stays at around two-three percent; pension funds increase with the bull market; and the Federal deficit, at least for now, virtually has disappeared. Pres. Clinton and the Republican Congress have created a budget agreement that promises to produce a surplus by the year 2002, cut some taxes, and even provide a new health care entitlement for children.

Underlying the agreement is an optimistic assumption that America has found the formula for uninterrupted economic expansion. The key elements are new information technology, the globalization of the economy, deregulation of industry, and continuation of monetary stability and fiscal restraint. Together, so is the hope, they will expand markets, hold down costs, develop industries, and create jobs.

Nonetheless, a current of dissatisfaction remains. Even if this formula works, it still leaves many social dilemmas untouched. Good economic times alone can not reduce certain social pathologies. They constitute a familiar litany--the tabloidization of culture and debasement of popular tastes; a high divorce rate and single-parent families; teen-age pregnancy and illegitimacy; declining standards of discipline and poor educational performance; drug usage and violent crime. The public worries about these problems, but is less likely to hold politicians at the national level responsible.

Such public resignation holds within it the seeds of wisdom. People have come to appreciate that solving these problems is not the...