It's more efficient economically since it keeps certain incentives to work and get ahead in society while reducing level of corruption inherent in communist societies, and allows government to find scapegoats and blame "the greedy" and "someone else" for the problems actually caused by the system, e.g. Goldman Sachs and "fat cats on Wall Street" for mortgage crisis and financial system meltdown, while keeping CRA regulations, ruinous expansion of fiscal and taxation policies and Fannie, Freddie and FHA safely out of people's minds.
Fannie and Freddie, before their recent de facto nationalizing, were perfect examples of Third Way being GSEs - operations that allowed for private ownership and profits for the politically connected elite class, while advancing government policy ("Home Ownership Society) where the losses were guaranteed by the society at large. Fannie, Freddie and FHA now own or control 9 out of 10 mortgages in U.S. And we see the same thing in GM takeover and attempt to effectively nationalize the health insurance and financial industries.
Blair and Clintons, along with Chretien and others, were in forefront of Third Way, with their New Democrats and New Labour spend-and-pretend policies designed to give government more and stronger control over industries and means of production and service. That's the task for Republicans to properly explain to people - when the government has total control over private endeavor and means to profit, people are no longer free, it's not a "free country" anymore..
“” ... Blair and Clintons, along with Chretien and others, were in forefront of Third Way ... “”
Nope.
All were — like Pelosi, Reed and 0zero — but Johnnie-Come-Latelies.
At the forefront of the Third way (AKA “Modified Marxism” AKA Fascism) came its inventor, Mussolini — and its further modifier, Herr Hitler.