In today’s Wall Street Journal, economist Brian Wesbury has a scintillating article about the word of the political year — change.
Here’s one paragraph:
Both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama view the world from a legislative perspective. Like the populists before them, they seem to believe thaty government can fix problems in the economy. They seem to believe that what the world needs is a change in the way government attacks problems and fixes the anxiety of voters. This command-and-control approach, however, forces a misallocation of resources. And in internet time this will become visible in almost real-time, creating real political pain for the new president.
I think Wesbury is right — the old command-and-control mode of thinking that both candidates exemplify will lead only to more and more pain. The trouble is that most politicians will react to the pain that further government economic meddling will cause by enacting still more of it.
Wesbury’s piece is excellent and I strongly recommend reading it.
