It's NOT the Economy!

"It's the Economy, Stupid!"

A number of years ago the above was political tag line for a presidential campaign.  The point of the slogan was that the real foundation of all the issues being discussed was simply the stability and security of our economy. Everything else either fell in line after the economy rebounded, or was simply irrelevant. It was, as far as bumper stickers go, a pretty good one.

Unfortunately, it wasn't really correct. In as much as a healthy, growing economy is important, it was correct. But the real issue then was what role the government was playing and should play in the economy, via all the means at hand: tax policies, spending policies, regulations, industry subsidies, union subsidies, etc., etc. And the use of national assets - bolstered by a stronger economy - to promote US interests. And those issues really are about power, the power of the government to act, or not act, via laws, regulations and policies, to create or block certain effects.

And the same true today.

When we look at the arguments about health care, or energy, or jobs, the questions almost immediately move beyond such simple issues as cost, profits, income, return on investment, tax revenue, jobs created or destroyed, and even quality of life, and gravitate to issues of authorities. (Worth noting is that throughout the entire discussion on the current administration’s efforts to wrest greater control over health care and the health care industry in this country, virtually no discussion took place as to how to actually increase the supply of health care, that is, the numbers of doctors, nurses, and beds in hospitals and clinics. In short, it really wasn’t about the economics of health care.) Authority is the real language of government. Though it is a commonplace to talk of budgets, what is really the issue at hand, in virtually every case, is budget authorities, that is, who has the power to say what happens, what gets bought, what is mothballed, where people are added, where they are taken away, who will 'drive the bus.' The money is a means, but the issue - the end-game - is power.

Power is the key. Money is nothing but a second rate substitute, the weak man's substitute, for power.

In the US, per the US Constitution, the power of the government - federal and state - is limited. (States are not allowed their own (state) constitutions that accrue to the state government powers that infringe the rights guaranteed by the federal Constitution. The US Constitution thereby provides an 'upper-boundary' for the considerations of state constitutions.) Power of government is, or is supposed to be, limited. But the real issues we are facing, when we discuss the huge economic issues facing us today - both within our own economy, as well as the various bureaucratic efforts of our federal (and state) government to regulate our lives, and to control our economy, as well as the efforts by various international bodies, to include the UN and various other organizations, as well as key trading partners, such as the EU and China - are all issue of power, camouflaged with money.

There is a concept, which used to be discussed in detail in US history classes because it had been a topic of frequent discussion among the Founding Fathers, and that was: tyranny of the majority. It was and is the concept behind many of the limitations in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the simple but important idea that certain rights and principles need to be protected even if more than half of the people object. Thus the freedom, no matter how repugnant, for groups like the Nazis to hold rallies. We may all (or 99.9% of us) find them to be disgusting, but the rights of free speech and press, and to peacefully assemble, and to petition all mean that not only can they or similar groups hold public meetings, but that they must be given protection if another group tries to disrupt the meeting.

Tyranny of the majority is a terrible thing, and governments of limited powers, and a system of guaranteed rights, are essential to prevent such tyranny from taking control. In short, it is once again about power.

Today, in the US, in Europe, in fact all around the world there are a series of debates on the economy, on standards of living, on jobs and unemployment, etc. In the end, what these debates turn on - in the US, in the EU, in Asia, in Africa, in the Mid-East, everywhere, is this: where does the power lie?

The argument in nations like Greece is really very simple: does one-half of the population (actually, a bit more than one half), acting in concert with legislatures who have enacted the law, have the authority - the power - to bankrupt the country and in the end destroy the wealth of the rest of the country? It is an example of tyranny of the majority.

The US is struggling with similar issues right now, particularly in the form of extension of health care coverage, the constitutionality of government ordering citizens to buy health care, and the impact of the associated government spending on the health care sector, the level of government control and the impact on all the other sectors of our economy and our society as a whole. This is well beyond arguments about economy. As the political slogan did not say:

It's NOT the Economy. It's about power.