Ernie,
I think the suggestions make a lot of sense, but of course, it is a lot
easier said than done.
1. Let in highly skilled workers and the wealthy. Good idea but a keg of
anti-immigration dynamite.
2. I would legalize marijuana immediately and charge an alcohol/cigarette
type of tax. This would put a lot of drug dealers out of business;
eliminate expenditures on law enforcement, the judicial system, and the
prisons. More addictive drugs could be decriminalized selectively. The
prohibition of alcohol didn't work, and alcohol is addictive; however, it
did make the mafia a lot of money.
3 and 5 are related. This is the healthcare reform issue. Good luck.
Chris
-------------------------------------
Christopher P. Hahn, Ph.D.
Constructive Agreement, LLC
[email protected]
(406) 522-4143
P.O. Box 39, Bozeman, MT 59771
-------------------------------------
_____
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dr. Ernie
Prabhakar
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 11:19 AM
To: Radical Centrist Discussions
Subject: [RC] Richard A. Posner: Toward Refocusing on Economic Growth
Makes as much or more sense as anything I'd seen. If Obama had centered his
State of the Union on something like this, he might be making more headway
now (though facing as much or more opposition).
-- Ernie P.
http://correspondents.theatlantic.com/richard_posner/2010/02/is_paul_krugman
_wasting_his_breath.php
I conclude that there probably is only one way out of our fiscal dilemma,
apart from default, devaluation, or runaway inflation, and that is to
increase the rate of economic growth to the point at which a growing public
debt falls, or at least does not increase further, in percentage of GDP. But
measures to increase economic growth must satisfy four criteria: that they
not interfere with the economic recovery; that they not put the government
in the futile position of trying to pick tomorrow's industry winners and
investing in them ("industrial policy"); that they not cost too much, as
that will contribute to the deficit, because the costs are likely to be
incurred before the benefits are obtained; that they be politically
feasible.
With these constraints in mind, I suggest the following candidates for
stimulating the growth of the economy.
1. Remove all limits on the immigration of highly skilled workers, or
persons of wealth. (This should be done gradually, so as not to increase
unemployment while the unemployment rate remains very high.)
2. Decriminalize most drug offenses in order to reduce the prison
population, perhaps by as much as a half, which will both economize on
government expenditures and increase the number of workers. (Again and for
the same reason, phase in gradually.)
3. Curtail medical malpractice liability, which increases medical costs
gratuitously (because the courts are very poor at identifying actual
malpractice) and, more important, engenders a great deal of very costly, and
largely worthless, "defensive medicine."
4. Augment the admirable efforts being made by the Obama administration to
improve public education.
5. Increase investment in the treatment of mental illness, which disables
people during their productive years.
6. Simplify the federal tax code.
This list is merely suggestive, and could surely be improved. It is meant to
suggest a more productive alternative to the current efforts at
comprehensive health care reform, unpromising job subsidy and mortgage
relief programs, and ambitious financial regulatory reform--all measures
that are likely to slow the recovery by making the economic environment more
uncertain and our fiscal problems more acute.
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