The logic of bad governance
Krugman:
So's this:
the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming?So by proving that government doesn't work, has Mr. Bush furthered his rapturous agenda, or Cheney's?
Some investors believe Katrina will hold the stock market back, as rising oil prices and shipping disruptions hurt corporate profits and economic growth. Others think Katrina actually could help stocks in the longer term, since the rebuilding effort eventually should spur consumption and investment in new equipment. They also see the Fed, at least temporarily, supporting the economy by suspending its campaign of interest-rate increases. WSJ"this is working very well."
So's this:
"It feels like the only things left in south Louisiana are snakes and alligators," said John Olson, co-manager of Houston Energy Partners, a hedge fund that operates out of a skyscraper downtown. "Houston is positioned for a boom."
posted by Tom Matrullo at Tuesday, September 06, 2005
4 Comments:
Nothing wrong with Big Gub as far as they're concerned. So long as it's the paternalistic Father Knows Best type that can't get its dick out of Ken Lay's ass long enough to notice the infrastructure of every USian city is falling to shit.
They love that sort of gubmint, which isn't really any sort of statecraft at all, but rather akin to a larger frat party.
It's all about making "points of light" do the dirty work, except they don't give a rat's ass if it actually gets done (who's tracking it?), so long as it relieves them of the presumption of being responsible for anything other than freedumb on the march.
Thanks for that ref. If the children of Woodstock have become competent managers, have the children of men in gray flannel suits become charismatics? Bush/Reagan clearly seem to discount mundane, reality-based tasks like research and practical knowledge in favor of leader cultism and sky-based final (nukular) solutions.
Harry, It might be too soon to know whether 43 will be tarnished by NO. I mean, from an "effects-based" point of view, which is that possessed by at least everyone in real estate, the market will dictate whether Bush's handling of Katrina's aftermath will have been a success or not.
A reply, Jon, got lost when my internet connection went down. The little I know about Saul is very appealing. I'd be curious to know what he thinks might account for a functioning bureaucracy. Is it something others can learn, or must we import Canadians to run our government systems? That last bit is not badinage, but a real question.
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