Re: Big purple digit

In article <memo.20080420133433.1752C@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 jgd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (John Dallman) wrote:

> In article <ddfr-18B280.12593819042008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, 
> ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (David Friedman) wrote:
> 
> >  jgd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (John Dallman) wrote:
> > > I'm afraid my belief at the time, and since, remains, that their 
> > > economic policies are largely formulated in terms of benefit to the 
> > > wealthy, and have to have explanations that are intended to attract 
> > > the votes of the less wealthy pasted on afterwards.
> > 
> > Quite a lot of people are of the opinion that those who disagree with 
> > them about policy do so because they are wicked people. 
> 
> "Wicked" has problems with definitions. "Selfish" and "foolish" are 
> terms with clearer meanings. 

"Wicked" has the advantage of covering a wider range. And "foolish" 
doesn't fit what you wrote above, unless you add some reason why it 
wasn't in the interest of the politicians in question to benefit the 
wealthy.

> For example, earlier in the eighties, quite a lot of unemployment was 
> deliberately created in the UK by shutting down nationalised industries,

> or vastly reducing the numbers of people they employed. This achieved 
> political objectives - taking revenge on the unions - at the cost of 
> putting large numbers of people out of work. This was bad for other 
> businesses, because suddenly their customers had no money, and 
> unsurprisingly produced a recession. 

You are taking your interpretation of both motives and causation as if 
it were gospel. I don't know enough to judge whether you are correct, 
but I also doubt you do--and your posts don't make you appear an 
unbiased judge on the subject. 

> A more gradual approach with less of an element of punishment, and more 
> of straightforward economic reform, could have worked rather better. But

> it wouldn't have produced nearly such a sense of power. 

Possible. On the other hand, for a counterexample, consider the case of 
Ludwig Erhard and the beginning of the German economic miracle in 1948. 
When asked why he didn't remove price controls gradually he is supposed 
to have responded with "when you are cutting off a puppydog's tail, do 
you do it an inch at a time?"

....

-- 
 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
 Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.
 Published by Baen, paperback in bookstores now