Tag Archives: government

Government is not a corrective device

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Last night riding home on the EL, I read this in Common Sense Economics, on page 83.

Government is not a corrective device.

People have a tendency to think of government, particularly a democratically elected government, as a corrective device. They act as if government is something like a pinch hitter  who can always be counted on to deliver the game-winning hit. This view is false. A democratic government is merely a method of social organization, a process through which individuals collectively make choices and carry out activities. There is no assurance that a policy favored by a majority will promote economic progress. In fact there is good reason to expect that, unless the impulses of the majority are restained, even popularly elected governments will often adopt policies that undermine economic progress.

They go on to illustrate their point with a hypothetical illustration, and then come to this conclusion:

When voters pay in proportion to the benefits received, all voters will lose if the government action is unproductive, and all will gain if it is productive. Therefore, when the benefits and costs of voters are directly related, large majorities will oppose unproductive projects in favor of productive ones.

Hmmm, this seems to be common sense true to me. So, I wonder how this applies to the “healthcare” debate? Any thoughts?

My Voting Experience

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Well, the big day has finally arrived. It’s going to be an interesting day as we watch the polls.

I went to my local Precinct 64 polling place to vote this morning. The lady asked for my last name, which I gave her. She flipped through the sheets, stopped at one and asked me, “Taylor?” “No,” I said, “it’s Randal.” She flipped over and tore out my sheet, I signed it, and then I voted on the new computer-based voting machine. No problems.

Then I called my oldest son Taylor, and asked if he was voting today. He said he was just on his way out to do that before work. I asked if he knew where to go, assuming he still had to come into Oak Park to vote. He said yes, they had given him a card and all the instructions for when he registered out in DuPage County! I then realized, that he could actually vote twice, since they had not removed him from the Cook County voter list, and they did not check for valid ID… just signatures.

The inefficiency and out-of-date procedures that are still in effect in government just amaze me. It disturbs me that there are so many ways like this that people actually use to cheat. There will be thousands of votes cast in Cook County by people who are dead, have moved away, or are not even legal citizens.

Sad. Unbelievable.