Politicians are clueless about economics

Bye-Bye Sweet Liberty ^ | 28 Feb. 2009 | el gringo

[El Gringo]

Like oil and wateer, politics and economics don't mix. People engaged in economic pursuits hate politics. Politicians think those who practice economic pursuits are somewhere above slugs on the evolutionary ladder. To understand more clearly this concept, we have to examine politics and economics side by side. This will require skipping to a different web page. Just click the link. politics vs economics

[El Gringo]

All people who devote their lives to politics are economic illiterates. This is probably mostly due to a world view acquired in child hood. Also, starting with Plato, and then reinforced by Aristotle, commerce and use of manual skills to acquire wealth were considered inferior to acquiring wealth by political means (i.e.,via words, either deceptive words, or plausible threats). See Chapter 10. Personalities, i-type and u-type. in Bye-Bye Sweet Liberty. i-type personalities tend to pursue careers in the economy. u-type personalities tend toward political careers. In the way of an argument, think about what Michelle Obama stated in an address to a graduating class at some snooty private women's college(paraphrased):"Don't get a job in the 'money economy,' go into public service, instead. Can any us imagine Teddy Kennedy doing the economic calculations of whether to install a diesel emergency generator or a natural gas emergency generator for a hospital?

Politics is the legal use of force. Economics is the use of skills to obtain benefits without the use of force.

Just remember a giant sociological experiment on Economics was carried out in Germany from 1945 to 1989. The people in both camps spoke the same language, were racially identical and started from a similar cultural background. The side that prospered favored the use of skill, industry, and economic pursuits. The side that failed favored the use of force, either police or military. To read further on the comparison of Economics and Politics, first we must examine the nature of politics. We all have a rough idea of what is politics, but it helps to dig in and consider carefully the nature of politics. This will require skipping to a different web page. Just click the link. politics

[Coleus]

Politicians are clueless about economics >>

that's an understatement and the msm are also in the dark.

[Niuhuru]

They’re also a bunch of former lawyers, people who make a living getting as much money out of people and companies as possible.

A lot of them lack full comprehension of the concept of ‘process’ how things are built and developed and also how money is usually made.

[Brilliant]

Clueless? What’s there to know? Just issue an executive order or pass a law. Problem solved.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ECONOMICS.

[FFranco]

Politicians are clueless about economics

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So are economists.

[PGalt]

Very good post and Chapter 10 at the bottom of the page at your link. Thanks.

from, Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)

Legal Plunder Has Many Names

Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on, and so on. All these plans as a whole — with their common aim of legal plunder — constitute socialism.

How to Identify Legal Plunder

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law — which may be an isolated case — is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

Much, much more...here...

http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html#SECTION_G1809

Thanks to FReeper raygun for the link.

[genghis]

what is to understand?
It is always easier to spend someone else’s money than your own.

[El Gringo]

How true. Thanks. Palin and Jindal certainly know what’s what.

[El Gringo]

Thanks for bringing up Bastiat. For a readable, concise summary of Bastiat(and the French Revolution), see
Chapter 5, A real mess. in ‘Bye-Bye Sweet Liberty’.

[PGalt]

WOW! Thank YOU for pinging me about Chapter 5! Outstanding! Looking forward to reading the rest.

Thanks again, El Gringo.