thomas malloy wrote:
The most humane systems are those which are unplanned, and each individual looks out for their own best interests. The failure of leftists to recognize the failure of planned economies every time they have been tried, is, IMHO, an indication of a psychosis.
Large parts of the U.S., EU and Japanese economies have been planned, and this has been true ever since the Erie canal was constructed in 1825. Add to this: railroads, sewers and public health, the electric power distribution, airports, aircraft and the air traffic control system, the highway system, computers and the Internet. All of these were planned in detail before they were built, and nearly all of the capital and expertise came from the Federal government.
Social engineering not only works, it has brought about nearly all large-scale infrastructure and all public health improvements, which are the main cause of improved longevity and good health. (Hospitals and doctors seldom make a difference. This is why the U.S. is dead last in developed-world infant mortality, disease, obesity and other health indicators, even though we spend 2 to 3 times more than other first-world nations such as the UK and Japan. We are far behind Cuba, for goodness sake.)
The US has had a hybrid public/private and planned/unplanned economy since the colonial era. To say that it has all been private, and to assert that planning does not work is as absurd as the left-wing claim that capitalism does not work. Both systems work, and both are vital to a modern economy. They serve different roles at different stages. At this stage, it is extremely unlikely that private sector capitalism will do fundamental research into cold fusion. Virtually none has been done, outside of Mitsubishi and the aborted program at Toyota. If we must depend on capitalism, cold fusion will probably never emerge.
- Jed
