Comments on: Goldman Sachs And The Double Bind of Reform

By: Yet Another Tricky Dick « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom

Yet Another Tricky Dick « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:34:49 +0000

[...] should be shocked by this. It’s just another manifestation of the double bind of reform. These corporations aren’t stupid. They know who has connections, who has friends, who can [...]

By: Rendering Partisanship Irrelevant « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom

Rendering Partisanship Irrelevant « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:36:31 +0000

[...] lead to a better society. Very few people are tangibly selfish about their political ends. Even Henry Paulson and crew probably believe that the bailout pattern they supported was the best for the economy. And yet the [...]

By: patrissimo

patrissimo — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:50:13 +0000

This is a brilliant tagline to describe the dominance of special interests: “organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.”

By: Michael Strong

Michael Strong — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:02:30 +0000

Great post; even though you bridled, Will, at having our work here described as “progressive,” what I tell my progressive friends about special interests is that not only do we libertarians agree with all of their criticisms of corporate self-interest corrupting government, but that we actually believe that the situation is WORSE THAN THEY THINK. It has always struck me as bizarre that the left accuses us of defending corporate interests when understanding the ineluctable logic of public choice theory is largely why I shifted from the left to liberatarianism. As you point out, the odds are that every expansion of government will, sooner or later, be captured by special interests.

And then, of course, I ventured out beyond standard minarchism because, precisely as you say, the logic of public choice applies all the way to the end. There is no escape other than “Letting a Thousand Nations Bloom.” I have often thought libertarians naive about deregulation when they were surprised that the S&L crisis occurred in the 1980s when deregulation went wrong, they were surprised when the 1990s California electricity deregulation went wrong, they are surprised that financial deregulation went wrong, etc. The process of deregulation is just as subject to “regulatory capture” as is the process of regulation. In both directions, odds are that the outcome will be captured by special interests. This doesn’t mean that libertarians should not support deregulation in domestic policy; it is still can go right, as with airline deregulation. But it does mean that libertarians should take seriously the fact that public choice theory applies to every aspect of government policy, and that we will see the complete set of benefits of free enterprise only when legal system creation itself becomes an act of competitive free enterprise.

By: The Goldman Sachs-U.S. Treasury Merger Ad Campaign « Let A Thousand Nations Bloom

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:31:33 +0000

[...] Treasury Merger Ad Campaign 2009 July 21 by Mike Gibson Inspired by my co-blogger’s excellent post on Goldman’s plundering of the U.S. Treasury, I thought I’d poll our audience for the [...]

By: islander

islander — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:05:11 +0000

“Health reform could be a positive thing…”
“…reduced carbon emissions…”

uh-oh…
Individualist sense tingling….