Consultor de Marketing Digital y Comunicación en Pamplona

Categoría: Think Tanks

Economists Rebellion

«Free market could be a son of a bitch but it is our son of a bitch»

Of course this is not a real quote from one passionate liberal economist, but it could be. At least if you read the statement The Cato Institute has promoted to oppose to the economic package implemented by the new American Emperor.

«President Obama says that economists from across the political spectrum agree on the need for massive government spending to stimulate the economy. In fact, many economists disagree. Hundreds of them, including Nobel laureates and other prominent scholars, have signed a statement that the Cato Institute has placed in major newspapers across the United States».

To showing their intellectual power, they have published an advertisement in the main US media pointing out that they do «not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance». They argue that other big government interventions did not rescue  America from the deep economic crisis. They prefer to repeat the old liberal recipes: «To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth». It is wondeful, but only one humble thinking: Who invented the ‘subprimes’? Regulatory Authorities? Or the happy liberal banker pursuing his prosperity and the richness of every man? I the State do not pays the huge bill, no banker is going to be generous.

Almost Two trillion of deficit in the US Budget

Where is my money?

A scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, Kevin A. Hasset, writes in Enjoy Stimulus Now, Pay Your $14,000 Share Later that it is expected Federal Budget Deficit of 1.7 trillion. Compared to the Bush Era, who championed de deficit course, it means that Mr Obama is going to dramatically increase the public debt to to stimulate the economy. The decision implies each American taxpayer is going to pay a bill of $14,000 in the next years to support the injection of money now to fight against financial crisis. 

«That is $1.7 trillion in future taxes. Nobody knows exactly when the tax hike will come. It might even be that we shall try to foist the costs on our children. Still, those planning their financial futures should account for the dramatically higher taxes that will be the result of this year’s policies».

From an individual focus, the economic perspectives are hopeless. People support the big financial support of mortgages and personal loans and they have to pay more taxes to maintain the financial system which is the main responsible of this irrationality. 

Kevin Hasset thinks it is a non-acceptable policy and I agree with that. However, it is necessary to point out that American Enterprise Institute has promoted public policies which have contributed to a huge public spending, like oil wars or ubiquous counter-terrorism military strategies. Also, they have asked for the limitation of public control of financial movements. And now, where is the money?

Think tanks also experience the crisis

Everybody knows that charity projects are the first victims of a financial crisis as donors cannot cope with their help. It happens also to management areas like advertising, public relations and philanthropy (If we can think of something called philanthropy in business).
Think tanks, as institutions supported by charity, they are suffering from donation cuts. I should say that it will not be a problem if it means that a good number of ultraliberal shops are going to dissapear. Nevertheless, I am sure that the main difficulties are going to be experienced by the left think tanks, a rara avis in the market imperium. They do not have the big budgets right think tanks, but as they depend basically on individual donations, it is understandable that they are going to have a financial shortfall. It is not a good news because we need an fresh and heretic approach that defies the inmutable laws of the market, well publisized by the neocon platforms (Heritage, IEA, Timbro, AEI and so on). We can do something to avoid the death of left think tanks. I do not agree with all their proposals, but I believe that real democracy in the marketplace of ideas need to have not only corporate and big power defenders institutes, but also small an letf centered foundations. As the Demos motto says, all need «think tanks for everyday democracy».

I comment this because two or three weeks ago I receive a letter from the Director of Compass, Gavin Hayes, asking for a bit of financial help to maintain the office and projects. In this think tank they work only two people full time and I can assure they do not receive a CEO salary neither they have a venue like the Aspen Meadows Resort Campus of the Aspen Institute. It could be a good sunday action to donate 10 pounds to the project. It deserves to maintain its fight in favour of a left perspective in the public policy environment.

If recession is not the problem…

One of the most outstanding advocates of the free market during the last ten years has been the Swedish Johan Norberg. Since he published In Defense of Global Capitalism, a best-seller of the new liberalism, Mr Norberg argues in every forum about the need to free and free the market forces. As liberalisation does not work and manages to a big financial and economic crisis, this prophet tries to give an explanation which does not deny the liberal creed. According to him

«As the Austrian economic school taught us, the recession is not the problem, the boom was the problem and all the mistaken investments that happened then because of cheap money. We won´t be able to start again and see new companies start expanding and hiring until bad investments are terminated and capital is transferred from the unsustainable to the sustainable».

Johan does not want to recognize that the real problem is the illusion of thinking that the liberal focus would warrant an eternal prosperity thanks to the free and intelligent decisions of the economic man. The free and intelligent decisions of the economic man have been responsible of the boom and the subsequent crisis. I do not understand why the market forces are going now to make sage decisions when in the last decade they have been making a lot of mistakes. The difference was that before the crisis, people won disgusting amounts of no decent money. The best for them, but no for everybody. Now they have caused the worst for all, including them. And who is rescuing? The dammed public sector.

Do Think Tanks Matter?

It is the title of a Donald Abelson’s book where he asked himself about the utility and relevance of the think tank phenomenon. In the middle of one of the deepest economic crisis the market economy has ever had, I think it is a good point to start. I should say that my focus is very skeptical. It was when think tanks were the main fashionable hobby of richmen and successful entrepreneurs, enjoying in the zenith of irrational exuperance, and it is now, when most of think tanks have demonstrated that they are useless, at least in public policy terms.

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