Le risque, ce n'est pas la mort de Schengen

The confusion between ends and means lies at the heart of our political systems. Here, the French President tells us what matters to him:

'Le risque, c’est la mort de Schengen'

The risk is the death of Schengen. Emmanuel Macron is certain: the foundations of the European Union (EU) are in danger owing to the epidemic of new coronavirus which strikes the Old Continent. l'Opinion, 27 March

Actually I think most of us would rate the risk of thousands of people dying as more significant than that of having to impose national border controls. I am sure Mr  Macron means well. But the EU project is a means to certain ends; peace and prosperity, most importantly. It is not an end in itself. Nor is 'proportion of energy derived from renewables' a valid, meaningful end. Nor, more fundamentally, is Gross Domestic Product. 

Social Policy Bonds have several advantages over our current ways of making policy. One is the way they would channel society's scarce resources into the most efficient ways of achieving social and environmental goals. But another is that they compel us to think about what those goals really are. If the goal, for instance, is to maintain a borderless European Union, or to keep the Euro going, then those are entirely different goals from improving the health and well-being of EU citizens. To an alarming degree, they are in conflict. There are plenty of other examples: school attendance, for instance, however measured, is not a social goal: better educational outcomes are. Shorter hospital waiting lists, or more mammography screenings, are not a social goal: better health outcomes are.

The failure of our leaders to distinguish between means and ends is disastrous. It has led to a widening gap between government and the people whom is supposed to serve. The results, throughout the democratic countries, are becoming all too clear: a widespread disenchantment with conventional politics, a growing cynicism and despair over government ever being able to deliver what ordinary people want and need. Social Policy Bonds, by channelling society's resources into the achievement of agreed, verifiable, meaningful social goals are one way in which we might begin to close that gap. 
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I have repaired the broken links at the Social Policy Bonds main website including, most importantly, the links to pdfs of the chapters in the definitive book.