I'm Thinking of having me some good ol' open heart surgery.
A Sunday New York Times article by Gregory Mankiw, Economists Actually Agree on This: The Wisdom of Free Trade presents such a magnificent argument that trade agreements are all exactly the same and always good, that I can't help but conclude by the same logic that it would be a great idea for me to have open heart surgery. After all, medical researchers and cardiac specialists are almost unanimous in saying that the surgery is statically beneficial to the patients who get it done. Since I'm a big believer in science, say no more, I don't have any need to get down in the weeds with all the 'why' questions. I'm in excellent health now and can't wait to experience how fantastic I'll feel afterwards.
We're fast-tracking my surgery to the OR, where I'm told I will be given ample time to study the details of the procedure and make a final decision on whether or not to go forward with it, once I'm on the table, strapped down, and ready for the gas.
No worries. Mostly, . . .
Well, except for some things that bother me a little about Mr. Mankiw, like his chairmanship of the Council of Economic Advisers under Bush a few years before the 2008 meltdown, and having been Mitt Romney's economic adviser. Stuff like that. His article starts off with a condescending stab at fast track opponents:
If Congress were to take an exam in Economics 101, would it pass? We are about to find out.
And then of course his attitude towards democratic governance, which he seems to think is an obstacle in the way of good economic policy:
If economists are so sure about the benefits of free trade, why are the public and their elected representatives often skeptical? One answer comes from a 2007 book by Bryan Caplan, a George Mason University professor, called “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies.”
Mr. Caplan argues that voters are worse than ignorant about the principles of good policy. Ignorance would be random and might average out in a large population. Instead of being merely ignorant, voters hold on to mistaken beliefs.
Politicians, whose main goal is to get elected, mold those mistaken beliefs into bad policy. Mr. Caplan writes: “What happens if fully rational politicians compete for the support of irrational voters — specifically, voters with irrational beliefs about the effects of various policies? It is a recipe for mendacity.”
Got that? WE CITIZENS are the problem, not the corporate interests and their legions of economists, lobbyists, media outlets, and paid-for politicians; no, it's WE CITIZENS who dominate the political process and are the culprits who insisted on the deregulation of derivatives over the objections of Goldmad Sacks and the rest of Wall Street, overwhelmed the good people of ALEC and got junk such as Right to Work legislation, municipal broadband prohibitions, and weaker environmental laws rammed through otherwise rational state governments.
Given his opinion on how THE PEOPLE don't know what's good for them, it's not surprising that Mankiw doesn't say anything about ISDS. His NYT piece is yet another "trade is good, therefore TPP is good" sales pitch, though one of the worst I've heard to date. I will give him this; voters are a big part of the problem, but mostly when they don't know enough to resist the propagandists who sell them policies that are actually harmful to their interests. On second thought, I think I'll cancel the surgery and just try to eat less sugar, get more exercise, and maybe not listen to economists who so clearly failed U.S. Government 101, World History 101, Environmental Studies 101, and Humanities 101.
Here are a couple of reviews of Bryan Caplan's book. Note that they were written in 2007 before we all learned in 2008 just how smart some of our elite economists can be.
