ARNOLD KLING
August 14, 2011
The Top Political Contributors
August 11, 2011
Gender and the New Commanding Heights
August 11, 2011
Jamie Galbraith Makes an Assumption
August 11, 2011
Macroeconometrics: The Science of Hubris
August 10, 2011
Real and Nominal Bond Yields
BRYAN CAPLAN
August 14, 2011
The Effect of Thumb Sucking on Income
August 12, 2011
The Voice of Cold, Hard Truth to All Would-Be Educators
August 12, 2011
Ability, Morality, and Prosperity: A Paper and a Report
August 11, 2011
The Theory of Time and Frittering
August 10, 2011
Male Variance and the Remnants of the Gender Gap
DAVID HENDERSON
August 9, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken", Part Two
August 8, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken"
August 5, 2011
James Bovard on the Peace Corps
August 4, 2011
Summers Way Off on FDR and 1941
August 3, 2011
The "Amazon" Tax
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One of the local electric companies is owned by the city. They have always given them an exemption to the local air pollution laws.
There are two basic differences between progressives and conservatives/libertarians:
1. Progressives believe the ends justify the means. They're OK with almost anything that the government controls. To Conservatives & Libertarians, the means ARE the ends. Separating the player & referee functions is a prerequisite for a fair game, which is all we want.
2. Conservatives/Libertarians are pessimists when it comes to agency costs, human nature, and effectiveness of government policy. Sometimes we are surprised by selfless politicians (Reagan) and effictive government programs (The Fed).
Progressives are optimists when it comes to agency costs and human nature. They see self-serving capitalism as a correctable flaw in humans. Greed is bad, and wealth is a sign of guilt. Government folks are above greed and are doing the Lord's work.
In James Q Wilson's Bureaucracy (which I review here) he points out that private government contractors are much more liable to comply with regulations than government agencies themselves. Bureaucracies have an inertia all their own so it is harder for the government to push them.
There are interesting differences between different political groups, that cause them all to commit various errors. I do not view your straw man, "The way a progressive looks at it, the more the referee gets involved, the better the game gets." as a particularly insightful look into those differences though, and think you have the experience and intelligence to do much better.