Reading the headlines and watching the behavior of our elected officials I often wonder what kind of world they live in. There is seemingly no issue that can't be resolved or problem eliminated without the passage of a piece of legislation. There is absolutely no appreciation for underlying causes or factors that explain why such problems exist in the first place, and a firm belief that their eradication simply requires the vote of our representatives.
Numerous examples spring to mind:
Cable Television: Concerned over the high cost of cable television, Congress in 1992 passed legislation to re-regulate the industry, including language that required the government to establish a limit for "reasonable" charges for basic cable service. High prices, however, simply indicated a lack of supply in the industry, a product of heavy regulation and monopolization. But rather than examine ways to promote competition and expand supply, Congress opted for passing a law mandating lower prices. To this day most Americans suffer from a lack of competition (like most, I only have one provider option) and cable bills remain extremely high.
Minimum Wage: In the opinion of some lawmakers, many workers are paid wages that are too low (which begs the question, compared to what?). Wages, however, are simply a product of the number of businesses competing for the pool of available talent as well as the skill set of the workers, which helps determines their productivity level.
Rather than attempt to improve the business climate in order to increase the number of companies competing for workers, or boost access to education so that workers may sharpen their skills, Congress and various state legislatures have instead voted on numerous occasions to stipulate that no worker can be paid less than a minimum wage. This does nothing to change the underlying dynamics of the labor market and simply results in higher unemployment, as workers are forced to sell their labor for a price higher than what the market will bear.
Poverty: Seeking to eradicate poverty, politicians have launched numerous programs designed to alleviate the suffering of the poor. Largely based on the logic that if money and assistance is provided to those who are poor that they won't be poor anymore or will be able to lift themselves out of poverty, such programs have traditionally consisted in large part of both direct cash transfers as well as in kind payments and services such as food stamps, subsidized housing and Medicaid.
Poverty, however, is an extremely complicated subject and the result of numerous factors such as a depressed economic climate and even poor cultural values. The government cannot create jobs (although it can get out of the way so that businesses can) nor can it imbue citizens with a work ethic and strong cultural values.
By handing out money in order to solve the problem, however, the government effectively subsidized poor behavior and made a bad situation worse, with welfare and public housing synonymous with all manner of social ills. In fact, arguably the biggest public policy success of the last 15 years was the 1996 welfare reform legislation that reduced expenditures, corresponding with an improvement in various economic and social indicators.
Look at each instance and the logic at work. Cable bills too high? Pass a law that forces cable companies to charge less. Workers not paid enough? Mandate that they be paid more. Too many poor people? Give them money so they won't be poor anymore.
And there are many more such examples. Tired of drunk people engaging in boorish behavior? Ban alcohol. Too much energy consumption (even assuming this is true)? Ban TVs, lightbulbs and mandate fuel efficiency standards. Don't like foreign workers making less money than Americans? Ban the stuff they produce. Find war distasteful? Ban that too.
Legislation is not a magic wand that suddenly makes problems go away. Declaring health care, food, education or any good a basic "right" will not suddenly ensure their adequate provision.
I bring this up because once again we see our legislators run amok, ready to pass vast amounts of new laws with little appreciation of the true impact of their actions or the underlying causes of the problems they seek to solve. There are few things more terrifying than a politician armed with 1,000 pages of legislation -- most likely unread -- dealing with a subject area for which they have only the most superficial grasp.
As we survey the world around us there needs to be an appreciation that things usually exist the way they do for a very good reason, and are the result of many carefully considered interactions. Conditions we do not like cannot simply be legislated away, and as often as not are the result of previous misguided decrees.
Numerous examples spring to mind:
Cable Television: Concerned over the high cost of cable television, Congress in 1992 passed legislation to re-regulate the industry, including language that required the government to establish a limit for "reasonable" charges for basic cable service. High prices, however, simply indicated a lack of supply in the industry, a product of heavy regulation and monopolization. But rather than examine ways to promote competition and expand supply, Congress opted for passing a law mandating lower prices. To this day most Americans suffer from a lack of competition (like most, I only have one provider option) and cable bills remain extremely high.
Rather than attempt to improve the business climate in order to increase the number of companies competing for workers, or boost access to education so that workers may sharpen their skills, Congress and various state legislatures have instead voted on numerous occasions to stipulate that no worker can be paid less than a minimum wage. This does nothing to change the underlying dynamics of the labor market and simply results in higher unemployment, as workers are forced to sell their labor for a price higher than what the market will bear.
Poverty: Seeking to eradicate poverty, politicians have launched numerous programs designed to alleviate the suffering of the poor. Largely based on the logic that if money and assistance is provided to those who are poor that they won't be poor anymore or will be able to lift themselves out of poverty, such programs have traditionally consisted in large part of both direct cash transfers as well as in kind payments and services such as food stamps, subsidized housing and Medicaid.
Poverty, however, is an extremely complicated subject and the result of numerous factors such as a depressed economic climate and even poor cultural values. The government cannot create jobs (although it can get out of the way so that businesses can) nor can it imbue citizens with a work ethic and strong cultural values.
By handing out money in order to solve the problem, however, the government effectively subsidized poor behavior and made a bad situation worse, with welfare and public housing synonymous with all manner of social ills. In fact, arguably the biggest public policy success of the last 15 years was the 1996 welfare reform legislation that reduced expenditures, corresponding with an improvement in various economic and social indicators.
Look at each instance and the logic at work. Cable bills too high? Pass a law that forces cable companies to charge less. Workers not paid enough? Mandate that they be paid more. Too many poor people? Give them money so they won't be poor anymore.
And there are many more such examples. Tired of drunk people engaging in boorish behavior? Ban alcohol. Too much energy consumption (even assuming this is true)? Ban TVs, lightbulbs and mandate fuel efficiency standards. Don't like foreign workers making less money than Americans? Ban the stuff they produce. Find war distasteful? Ban that too.
Legislation is not a magic wand that suddenly makes problems go away. Declaring health care, food, education or any good a basic "right" will not suddenly ensure their adequate provision.
I bring this up because once again we see our legislators run amok, ready to pass vast amounts of new laws with little appreciation of the true impact of their actions or the underlying causes of the problems they seek to solve. There are few things more terrifying than a politician armed with 1,000 pages of legislation -- most likely unread -- dealing with a subject area for which they have only the most superficial grasp.
As we survey the world around us there needs to be an appreciation that things usually exist the way they do for a very good reason, and are the result of many carefully considered interactions. Conditions we do not like cannot simply be legislated away, and as often as not are the result of previous misguided decrees.
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