Russ Roberts over at Cafe Hayek–were orders emerge–takes David Brooks to the woodshed for his support of big government solutions.
This small sample does not do it justice. It gets better and better. Read the entire post here.
David Brooks writes (HT: Arnold Kling):
The social fabric is fraying. Human capital is being
squandered. Society is segmenting. The labor markets are ill. Wages are
lagging. Inequality is increasing. The nation is overconsuming and
underinnovating. China and India are surging. Not all of these
challenges can be addressed by the spontaneous healing powers of the
market.Brooks wants a GOP that is open to activist government. There?s only
one problem. Which of those challenges Brooks lists can be addressed by
the top-down healing powers of the Washington establishment?
Washington?s specialty is fraying the social fabric and mucking up
labor markets. He left out the fact that the housing market is a mess
(thanks Washington!) and that capital markets don?t allocate capital to
their highest valued use because Washington has taken the loss out of the profit and loss calculus.
The messed up capital markets and broken housing market are a huge part
of the reason that human capital is being squandered and wages are
lagging. Government schools also contribute to both of those problems.Brooks wants the GOP to have a vision of what the role of government
will be after we step off the road to serfdom. Here?s one. In a world
of smaller government, we?ll be more free to cooperate with each other
to make goods and services for each other and to take care of each
other in creative ways that are currently stifled by government either
directly through regulation or indirectly though crowding out. Make
government smaller and we?ll have more private and voluntary
interactions that we choose using our knowledge of what is needed for
ourselves and for others.
