Sunday, June 17, 2012

Tyler Cowen Provides A New Rationale For An Inactive Government

Tyler Cowen is an economist who claims to be a mind reader as well.  In this article, he describes the mind of the body politic whose minds he has read.  He has found that the public does not trust government.  Therefore, government should do nothing to stimulate the economy by investing in the country's future. We should wait until public trust in government has been restored before we do anything.  In particular, government should do nothing to restore state and local jobs that have been lost because of a fall in tax revenues, and it should not take advantage of low interest rates to make investments until the public regains its trust.

Tyler Cowen's political party has positioned itself as the anti-government party.  It has used its resources, which includes the Mercatur Center at George Mason University that he directs, to encourage distrust in government.  Tyler Cowen then reads the public mind to tell us that the public has passed the anti-government exam. It does not have enough trust to support investments in the future.  It is ironic that his party, which lionizes the risks taken by entrepreneurs to start up new businesses, has become so risk averse..


No comments:

Post a Comment