Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Why are most politicians in Western Democracies lawyers?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #31
    Originally posted by Al B. Sure! View Post
    What about Pinochet?
    While Chile is benefiting greatly right now from the decentralization of the economy Pinochet began, he was a brutal thug who killed thousands of his own people.

    If I thought hell existed, I'd be happy he was rotting there.
    12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
    Stadtluft Macht Frei
    Killing it is the new killing it
    Ultima Ratio Regum

    Comment


    • #32
      Originally posted by KrazyHorse View Post
      I've already listed the issues on which current policy diverges from the great bulk of informed opinion. And I agree that economists are not a monolithic block. That's why I'd poll them on given policies and reject the policy if more than 40% of them disagreed with it. As far as I can tell, this would lead to pretty solid outcomes...
      I doubt things like farm subsidies occur because lawyers are unable to see why they're a waste. I think it has more to do with the influence of special interests than the competence of the people in office.

      Comment


      • #33
        I wasn't simply suggesting that politicians be selected from among economists; I was suggesting that political power be taken out of the hands of idiots who elect politicians to support crap like that...
        12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
        Stadtluft Macht Frei
        Killing it is the new killing it
        Ultima Ratio Regum

        Comment


        • #34
          Originally posted by KrazyHorse View Post
          a) Other developing nations are often run by military strongmen; I agree that a warlord is probably a worse choice than an engineer to run a country
          b) While this is true, and is a very good point, I wonder whether or not this is simply a case of moving power from an even more control-oriented group (political philosophers of the Marxist tradition)...
          Or engineers are less dogmatic than marxist political philosophers and more willing to adopt a decentralized economy if they have a better track record.

          Comment


          • #35
            Now, obviously that is an impossibility (for some very good reasons), but if we're simply suggesting the former, then I don't see the point; we'll continue to have policies mainly dictated by the public.
            12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
            Stadtluft Macht Frei
            Killing it is the new killing it
            Ultima Ratio Regum

            Comment


            • #36
              Originally posted by KrazyHorse View Post
              I wasn't simply suggesting that politicians be selected from among economists; I was suggesting that political power be taken out of the hands of idiots who elect politicians to support crap like that...
              What would you do, only let people with PhD's vote?

              Comment


              • #37
                See the post above yours...

                This is wish fulfillment, not a practical suggestion
                12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                Stadtluft Macht Frei
                Killing it is the new killing it
                Ultima Ratio Regum

                Comment


                • #38
                  In other words, in a modern democracy, the identity of politicians doesn't really matter that much. If we're just arguing about that, then there's no point.
                  12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                  Stadtluft Macht Frei
                  Killing it is the new killing it
                  Ultima Ratio Regum

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Of course, not all politics regards economics.
                    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      No, economics is just the most important.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Originally posted by DanS View Post
                        Of course, not all politics regards economics.
                        Unfortunately, most of it does.
                        12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                        Stadtluft Macht Frei
                        Killing it is the new killing it
                        Ultima Ratio Regum

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          By which I mean that the "do something" bias is very strong...
                          12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                          Stadtluft Macht Frei
                          Killing it is the new killing it
                          Ultima Ratio Regum

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            If all of the economics decisions were made before lunch-time on the first day of the first session of the legislature, like you are suggesting, they would bicker about non-economics things for the next 364.75 days of the year.
                            I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Yup. And the 40% threshold would mean they wouldn't get to change anything...
                              12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                              Stadtluft Macht Frei
                              Killing it is the new killing it
                              Ultima Ratio Regum

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                It wouldn't be all the economic decisions; just the ones for which there is a clear-cut answer which the public is too dumb to see.
                                12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                                Stadtluft Macht Frei
                                Killing it is the new killing it
                                Ultima Ratio Regum

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X