The Biggest Rent-Seekers And Moochers: Politicians Themselves
It's like that in most countries, including the United States, said MIT professor Daron Acemoglu. Veronique de Rugy quotes him at NROonline:
But nowadays in most countries, the most extractive elite is the politicians themselves. Think of Greece. You cannot understand the last three decades without understanding corrupt political system. But the same is true even for the United States. The US political system has become dominated by the political elite and the lobbying industry funneling money to them. We are seeing the costs of this at this moment.
She also quotes a piece by Tim Carney, on how companies like Microsoft were given strong indications that hard work alone isn't enough to to business in this country. From Carney in the WashEx:
If you want to get involved in business," Sen. Orrin Hatch warned technology companies at a conference in 2000, "you should get involved in politics."Hatch was referring to the shortcomings of then-software king Microsoft, which he had spent most of the previous decade harassing from his perch as Judiciary Committee chairman. The message was clear: If you become successful, you must hire lobbyists, you must start a political action committee, and you must donate to politicians. Otherwise Washington will make your life very difficult.
Hatch's crusade against Microsoft was a formative moment in the cozy relationship between K Street and Capitol Hill.
De Rugy winds up:
Unfortunately, cronyism has real economic consequences at the state and federal level. In my congressional testimony last week, for instance, I explained how loan-guarantee programs are harmful to the economy as a whole, even when the projects are low risk and taxpayers' exposure to losses is small. These loans, among other things, distort important market signals and redirect private capital toward "government supported" projects regardless of their merits. In other words, through these loan programs, the government pick winners that will benefit from much better financing terms than they would be able to get on their own, which also makes it harder for the companies who didn't get government support.Thankfully, Acemoglu seems to believe that there is still time for the United States to rein in these behaviors before it turns into a country that only benefits extractive elites. In my opinion, the first step is to end all forms of cronyism at the state and federal levels. That means that we end all subsidies, loan guarantees, or other government-provided special treatment for private companies.
What has happened to my america? Ill preface this by saying I'm 77 and still have most of my marbles. That said, I grew up in a time when no one locked their house or car, kids played outside till the street lights came on - a sign dinner was ready.Gangs were the boy scouts and serious crime was a stolen bicycle. Yes sir, yes ma'am, please and thank you were major parts of speech for kids and respect for elders was nearly universal.seeing the way things are now I'm glad I'm on the short list to leave the planet. I'm not stupid enough to think that things will get better because we coddle the criminals, wrap the children in bubble wrap and need a lawyer to do what a handshake would accomplish. Sports have become big business with the addition of sports attorneys.Our Military demands respect, yet they are mostly ignored-and sadly many military families are on food stamps which is a disgrace. There are families that have been on welfare for 4 generations and never held a job, in my day the worst and most embarrassing thing that could happen to a family was to go on welfare-and I was born at the end of the depression. Well enough of that - just needed to vent about how things have turned out-we're 15th in the world on science scores and 27th in mathematics which should cause the people to put up the x-boxes and games and do something to further their education. Anybody out there agre?
Gmller at June 27, 2012 10:51 AM
We may not be number #1, but when you look at the true numbers, other countries skew the stats with things such as separating the college bound students out from the students bound for the technical or labor jobs as early as 13 or 14. Those students are never given the AP and other standardized tests. So the U.S. public schools give the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) or something similar to every student regardless.
In Britain they teach the students how to take the test: www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Adam-Smith-Institute-Blog/2010/1027/Lessons-from-Britain-in-what-not-to-do-with-standardized-testing
France doesn't believe in the standardized test.
So don't trust those numbers. There was a post a yesterday, or the day before about infant mortality rates. The U.S. counts a bunch more than in other countries.
Jim P. at June 27, 2012 7:57 PM
You don't say where you live. That is a big factor in what you see around you.
I live in a rural area of SW Ohio. I was driving home about 9:30 tonight and saw a kid on a three speed driving around in his driveway in the local village.
I work in a suburb of Cincy. I don't ever expect to ever see that there.
It has been so long since I locked the door to my house that my house key is on a spare key ring I leave in my backpack. I'd have to guess which of the five Kwikset keys on the ring would actually work.
Another thing that has changed is the technology that has come about from when you were 20 in 1955 and now. If you left your fingerprints behind in 1955 and they had no clue of the suspect, they might file a police report and lift prints. The hope of finding a match was slim.
Now they can compare a set of fingerprints to about 101 million in about an 1.5 hours (google IAFIS). The number of crimes solved will shoot up. It isn't that there really is more crime per capita, there is now an increase in convictions.
Don't despair -- it is where you live that gives you the illusion of the shit has hit the fan. It hasn't really.
Jim P. at June 27, 2012 8:17 PM
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