So with every passing generation, we're told we just need one more government programme to fix our problems.
Oh every adjective known to man is used to describe the greedy business people and how they must be brought under control etc, etc,
But with government related issues, whatever problems can't be resolved is typically the fault of the former governing party and the answer is more of the same public policies that got us where we are at.
As Francisco Flores, former President of El Salvador pointed out "Governing is not an applause contest. It has ethical imperatives that demand honesty when facing problems…"
That's what the campaign trail is about. Once elected, solutions become necessary. Unfortunately, more government is seldom the answer.
Yet, we get one fiasco after another and there is never an honest reflection or accounting of the results of a government programme. So, as stated earlier, we get another government programme to expand the already failing or failed policy.
After all, politicians don't use their money to provide perverse incentives, they use taxpayer dollars, or continue to pile on the deficits and debt, which ultimately lead to a higher tax burden.
Seldom, if ever, is there proper reflection. Like Messrs Buchanan and Wagner, though, "We remain firm in our faith that Americans Bahamians can shape their own destiny."
The following quote from Democracy in Deficit (pdf) by Dr. James M. Buchanan and Dr. Richard E. Wagner seems appropriate:
"Like the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, we hope that our conditional predictions will come to be refuted. We hope that our institutions and practices may be reformed in time to prevent “what may be'' becoming “what is.'' Like Robert Frost's traveler, we confront a choice between alternative roads.
On the one side, there lies the falsely attractive path toward “national economic planning,'' a choice that would have us allow government to go beyond traditional bounds because it has failed even to fulfill its more limited promises. On the other side, there is the way of the free society, of men and women living within a constitutional contract that also keeps governments in well-chosen harness. This way, so well understood by Americans two centuries past, has been obscured by the underbrush of burgeoning bureaucracy. Will we, like Robert Frost's traveler, choose the road less traveled?"
It falls upon individuals in society to keep government in check. Particularly those of us that see the false prophecy of the fruit of an even larger government. History shows us that it's very sour.
Beware the planners.
We need it to be reversed.What we need is “How do we bring these greedy good for nothing politicians under control & how to we cut them down to size” & do it ASAP !!!
Planning to often ends up being a dirty word to many free-market, conservative thinkers.. Such a shame as “planning” is the application of logic and analysis to determine maximization of solutions and outcomes.. In many ways we are all planners as we undertake rational decision making in our daily lives.. So generally planning is a good thing to exercise as it is in our own self-interest..
On the other hand, in most totalitarian societies, planning takes on an entirely different meaning particularly at the macro level of the economy.. These countries usually are referred to as centrally planned economies or government controlled economies where most aspects of economic life especially production, prices and incomes are controlled directly by the central government.. Sadly this is always a blueprint for the implementation of economic disaster and failure..
Does this mean that we should reject economic planning?? Not necessarily so as such techniques as “rolling plans”, input/output analysis and econometrics can be beneficial to the allocation process where capital is scarce.. Once priorities are defined, free-market dynamics will yield greater returns on prioritized investment than direct government funding.. This is not a plea for a mixed economy approach, but an appeal for a more balanced approach to establishment of economic policies..
Today the cries we hear in the Bahamas for establishment of a National Plan should fall on empty ears as these are the cries of the uninformed seeking attention to their pleas of ignorance..