Don’t expect Amity Shlaes to sing the praises of behavioral economics or libertarian paternalism, concepts that generated great interest among prominent members of the initial Obama economic team. Shlaes’ latest Forbes column explains why she’s skeptical about the notion of “nudging’ people toward government-endorsed behavior.
Get the rat to the cheese.
That’s really what each U.S. political party is promising to do if its candidate is elected President. The rat in this analogy is the enervated American worker. The cheese is his reward. If all rats make their way through the maze anFreedom Manifesto points out that freedom, not cheese alone, drives innovation. “Free markets are about meeting the needs and wants of people,” Forbes and Ames contend. Democratic capitalism thrives because it features what they call a “moral optimism,” a good phrase.d to the cheese faster, the economy will grow faster.
The only way that Democrats and Republicans differ is in the manner in which they animate the rat. Democrats take the Habitrail approach: Give the worker the equivalent of a roomy cage with a deluxe wheel, and he’ll be fit enough to pursue his cheese. Republicans focus on incentives: Double the cheddar, and the rat will navigate his turns more quickly. The rat analogy comes from modern economics, a discipline that classes itself as lab science, precious and pure.
But people aren’t lab rats. They are souls, to use a pre-social-science word. Souls, pious or not, make their choices in complex fashion. …
… Freedom Manifesto points out that freedom, not cheese alone, drives innovation. “Free markets are about meeting the needs and wants of people,” [authors Steve] Forbes and [Elizabeth] Ames contend. Democratic capitalism thrives because it features what they call a “moral optimism,” a good phrase.
