[net-gold] UNITED STATES: POLITICS: POLITICAL PARTIES: REPUBLICAN PARTY, TEA PARTY : INDUSTRIES: PETROLEUM INDUSTRY : DEMOCRACY : POLITICAL SCIENCE: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS : BOOKS : POLITICAL: THEORY: The Koch Brothers, the Cato Institute and Why Nations Fail
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Net-Gold -- Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold <Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MediaMentor <mediamentor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sean Grigsby <myarchives1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <NetGold_general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Lists -- Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports Tourism <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, HEALTH-RECREATION-SPORTS-TOURISM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 07:41:48 -0500 (EST)
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UNITED STATES: POLITICS: POLITICAL PARTIES: REPUBLICAN PARTY, TEA PARTY :
INDUSTRIES: PETROLEUM INDUSTRY :
DEMOCRACY :
POLITICAL SCIENCE: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS :
BOOKS :
POLITICAL: THEORY:
The Koch Brothers, the Cato Institute and Why Nations Fail
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The Koch Brothers, the Cato Institute and Why Nations Fail
March 8, 2012, 5:00 am
By SIMON JOHNSON
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/
the-koch-brothers-the-cato-institute-and-why-nations-fail/
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A shorter URL for the above link:
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http://tinyurl.com/6t8axja
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A dispute has broken out between the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian
think tank, and two of its longtime backers David and Charles Koch. The
institute is not the usual form of nonprofit but actually a company with
shares; the Koch brothers own two of the four shares and are arguing that
they have the right to acquire additional shares and thus presumably exert
more control. The institute and some of its senior staff members are
pushing back.
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snip
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Far from being just an unseemly row between prominent personalities on the
right, this showdown reflects a much deeper set of concerns for American
politics and society. And it raises what I regard as the central question
of an important book, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity
and Poverty, by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, which will be published
on March 20.
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Professors Acemoglu and Robinson assert that institutions, by which they
mean the rule of law and constraints on government power, are critical to
economic development having great influence on which countries become
rich and stay that way, and which countries over the last 200 years have
failed to grow or collapsed into civil disorder. (Disclosure: I have done
a great deal of joint research with Professors Acemoglu and Robinson, but
I wasnt involved in writing this book.)
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At one level, the Acemoglu and Robinson argument lines up well with the
standard Cato Institute and libertarian view of the world. At the back
of Cato publications is the statement, In order to maintain its
independence, the Cato Institute accepts no government funding. Without
question, excessive power in the hands of governments can be bad for
economic growth.
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But the Acemoglu and Robinson point is not just about how things may
become awful when the government goes off track (a right-wing point). They
are also more deeply concerned about how powerful people fight to grab
control of the state and otherwise compete to exert influence over the
rest of society (a left-wing perspective).
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snip
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Libertarians, such as those who work at the Cato Institute, do not like
the state and do not trust the federal government. The Acemoglu-Robinson
view is much more nuanced: states are often captured by powerful elites
and very much used as a tool of oppression, but it is also possible for
liberal democracies to develop in which the government not only helps
people but also behaves in a way that is conducive to widely shared
economic prosperity.
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In this context, the Koch brothers are an important topic of discussion
or cause for concern. In the new Bloomberg billionaire index, released
this week, the Koch brothers are each worth $33.5 billion. If they choose
to act together, as they often seem to, including in the case of Cato,
they are the richest pair in the world.
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Professor Acemoglu is concerned about the Kochs well-organized attempts to
exert sway over American politics (e.g., through Americans for Prosperity
and its affiliated organizations). But he feels that American democracy is
sufficiently strong and will prevail. If he is right, the Koch brothers
are unlikely to end up calling the shots as corporate titans did in the
Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century (the term was coined in The
Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, in
1873).
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snip
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Im not so sanguine. Partly this is because of my work on the rise and
continuing power of big banks (including my 2010 book with James Kwak, 13
Bankers). Its also because of my more recent work on the history and
likely future of the federal government budget and the national debt. The
interests that would undermine government are strong and growing stronger,
with rich individuals leading the charge.
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The complete article may be read at the URL above.
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Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxx
http://workface.com/e/daviddillard
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