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patrissimo- Patri Friedman
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patrissimo
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"Anyone who says otherwise is itching for a fight."
I think they should change the term from "free market" to "highly regulated supply and demand priced market". That would seem a little more genuine.
I also really like how he pointed out that when they threw out the old (stupid) tax code and replaced it with a sensical one, they got more money than they were previously getting because of a massive increase in voluntary compliance. This suggests that people are pissed off at the tax code's opacity as well as the size of their own personal burden. I know I feel that way, but it's nice to find evidence that I am not alone.
Unfortunately, from what I understand about their changes, it doesn't seem like you would get half the benefit if you only instituted half their changes. Or even half the benefit if you instituted 80% of their changes. Which means that we'd need a pretty radical party in power. The most radical party right now are the Republicans, and their "small government" party line is not being followed at all. Instead they seem to be going 40% social conservative + 40% neo-conservative + 20% outright fascist/corporatist.
It may not be linear, but I don't think its super sub-linear. Each department you privatize adds that much more efficiency and extra money to the economy.
we'd need a pretty radical party in power.
This makes me realize that the article barely addresses the most interesting issue. The interesting thing is not "what kind of reforms work", because we already know that pretty well. What we don't know is how to make reform happen. Why did NZ choose to reform? How did their leaders get such a free hand, and why did they have incentive to fix things?
This could be where the sub-linearity comes in. You need enough meta-reform to get the govt to actually try to reform, and that may be one of those things where you need a certain activiation energy to get to a different equilibrium state.
I agree about them avoiding the most interesting question - "how the hell did they get people to sign onto this?"
I keep hoping for a groundswell of public opinion shift in the US that would lead to this kind of thing, but I despair of this because of some entrenched power structures, not least of which is the dance between the mainstream media and the government.
The hope I have is that the most admired sector of the government, by the public at large, is the military, and they've been working on ways to devolve power and decision-making to smaller units. (I know this sounds paradoxical, but it's very true.) If that keeps up, then it might be emulated elsewhere in government. Reform via the US Marine Corps. Stranger things have happened.
The Free State Project will test how far this can be pushed. If they can successfully reject federal funds and assert their state rights, other states may follow.
I'm not saying this will happen, it just seems to me to be the most likely route via which reform could happen.
The other possibility is massive fiscal problems (federal bankruptcy, essentially) due to SS Ponzi scheme collapsing, movement of people and capital out of the US, and so forth. I think there is a good chance this will happen in a few decades, but massive reform may not be the response.
I think that by the time the Social Security Ponzi scheme collapses, it will be too late to manage the problem. Things get real ugly at that point.
Well, there's some anecdotal evidence from the documentaries on the Lord of the Rings extended edition DVDs. They built the Edoras set on a state park, but had to jump through an awful lot of hoops to do it. For instance, instead of just making a road into the site with bulldozers, they had to carefully remove the sod, put it up in greenhouses for the duration of the shoot, and put it all back when they were done.
Meanwhile, the religious fanatics expand government power in other directions: for instance, the law passed in Virginia with the intent of invalidating contracts between same-sex couples that created benefits "resembling" those of marriage. Frankly, I am disillusioned with politics; it seems like no matter what I do, the result is going to be more of the same.
yes, the rates of our income tax and profit tax are comparatively low, which is why people think HK's economy is free, but the government is manipulating incentives indirectly: all land owned by the government, well established rent controls, mandatory provident fund, welfare scheme, etc. and they are proposing min wage law.
the government tend to enjoy income by indirect means, and there's a tendency to grow. broadcasting and public transport means must get franchise or license; hospitals and schools are financed by and under the control of the government. the civil servants are highly overpaid.
I'm a temp clerk working in the Education and Manpower Bureau (the governmental department in charge of education), and I'm now at work, surfing the Internet, criticizing the government, paid by the taxpayers.