In one of the few dissident pieces the New York Times suffers to occasionally run, GMU economics professor Tyler Cowen gets at precisely the overarching problem facing the United States — that we have allowed the economy to be overly politicized. Read and savor his column.
Cowen writes, “We have made a grave mistake in politicizing the economy so deeply and should back away now.” Unfortunately, the Obama regime, heedless of history and prudent economic counsel, is going full speed ahead with its agenda of putting politics into every detail of our lives.
If any lesson of history is clear, going back to ancient Rome, it is that as societies become increasingly dominated by politics — that is, decisions made by government officials rather than individuals — they lose energy, productivity, innovation, and social cohesion. They go into a slow decline where political infighting for temporary advantage replaces work and investment, where a get-rich-quick mentality drives out long-run planning, and where the people have to worry more and more about falling out of favor with the rulers.
