Politics has become a huge distraction. It is absorbing too much time and energy. Concentrating on gossip and impossible dreams, we are neglecting the hidden, ever-widening fault line that is splitting the country, as well as many parties, into two factions fighting for two negatives.
The center must hold. We must make our own position clear. No, we will not stand for the demise of The Market; no, we will not stand for the demise of The Government.
Followers of Keynes urge us to abandon the one; followers of Hayek urge us to abandon the other.
The sad truth is not that these factions are wrong. The tragedy is that they are both right. The problem is that they think they are absolutely right.
Economic theory of the right and economic theory of the left (is not this a strong indication that there is something rotten in Denmark?) does not allow politicians—and economists as well, for that matter—to see the limitations of their positions. Those are complementary positions; one does not stand without the other.
Do not listen to me or to Concordian economics; do not listen to those four fantastic American economists—Benjamin Franklin, Henry George, Louis D. Brandeis, and Louis O. Kelso—who uniquely reached a deep understanding of key parts of the economic process.
Unfortunately, individually, apart from a core of indisputable validity, the claims of fanatic followers of these four great economists do not stand to the touch of reason. It is together that they form an impregnable fortress erected on four integrated indispensable economic policies that address the needs of the four factors of production: land and natural resources, labor, financial capital, and physical capital.
But these days when we, lucky Americans, celebrate the achievement of that impossible dream, our political Independence from England, let us forget all theories. Let us simply meditate on the recommendations of a key creator of our political independence, George Washington.
Leave A Comment