Quote 607
Government provides solutions for things that are not problems.
Informal organisation is important in societies . State control destroys this.
Quote 1040 “ As Public Choice scholars pointed out, the people who make public decisions are, in fact, just as self-interested as anyone else. ” -- Dr Eamonn Butler I do see a perception from a few here that government must somehow be a part of a solution. "How insidious the detrimental parasite that convinces the host of its necessity".
Quote 1057-8 “ Market transactions are voluntary: either side can walk away from the bargain if they do not like the terms on offer. But politics has to be coercive: once the collective decision has been taken, everyone must abide by it, even if they are unhappy about it. ”
-- Dr Eamonn Butler We have a ponzi economy, like Madoffs company, seems fine for a long time, but really the forces of destruction are building.
Quote 1036 “ This self-interest operating in the political system will lead to ‘government failure’, which can be far more serious than ‘market failure’ because of the coercive power that government exercises and because government is not subject to a direct competitive process. ” -- Dr Eamonn Butler Governments and govt departments traffic in human misery
Government underplay their involvement in crisis's
Then they expect us to trust them when they make regulation.
We need more humility in government and political systems that are better designed.
Interference in contractsThe right to contract is the foundation of the economic system. If we knew that the the other party in the contract would not comply because of government intervention, the contract would be useless.
Why it can't workThey can't pave the roads, they can't stop drug use, they can't wrap up Afghanistan or Iraq, they can't control the climate of the Earth and cow farts, they can't check every home for efficient light-bulbs and proper fixtures, they can't make sure everyone is healthy, they cannot manage the economy, but this is what they are attempting to do all at the same time
From EA magazineThose in government suffer a knowledge problem and an incentive problem when it comes to designing intervention. Even if the intentions behind general well-being policies are benevolent, how will the government know what aspects of well being to maximise and by how much? In addition Government officials face perverse incentives in both designing and implementing policies
It means narrowly focused special interests can successfully have their agendas passed and legislators garner support for these groups in exchange for supporting future votes benefiting other narrow interests.
Rent SeekingQuote 1069-74 “ far from the public policy process being superior to the market, rent seeking massively distorts public decisions, and in turn distorts markets and reduces competition in ways that benefit certain groups but substantially injure the general community”
“Rent seeking is the attempt by particular groups to persuade governments to grant them these sorts of valuable monopolies or legal privileges. If their rent seeking is successful, such benefits could add up to a substantial transfer of wealth to these privileged groups from the general public. Consumers and taxpayers lose financially as a result of the monopoly prices, but also lose in terms of the reduced choice and lower quality that they have to endure too”
“And the larger the size of the public sector, or the more complicated the tax or regulatory structure, the greater the opportunities for rent seeking – so the larger this potential loss becomes. Companies, individuals and groups are likely to be prepared to invest almost as much in rent seeking as the ‘rent’ that they will get if they succeed.”
“public have another corrosive effect too. If people figure that their earnings, savings and capital earned through their own hard work can be prised from them (in taxes or monopoly prices) by rent seekers, they will be less willing to work hard and save in the first place.”
“Rent seeking also corrupts the political process. The prospect of extracting large benefits through rent seeking encourages groups to trade votes and support in order to make it happen.”
“But the best-paying customers will be small groups with concentrated interests, rather than the uninformed and diffused mass of the public. For that reason, politicians focus on the demands of well-organised, loud interest groups, and often give in to them – perhaps calculating that they can persuade the apathetic and uninformed public to go along with the decision. ” -- Dr Eamonn Butler Also see bureaucracy
LinksLink496Government incompetence
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