California Dreamin'

Building on a theme, Ezra Klein does some heavy lifting worthy of close consideration. Paul Krugman will say similar things at the American Economic Association meeting in Atlanta January 4, 2010. We live in a social and economic climate that unfolds at nearly the speed of light. This miracle of existence is regulated and nurtured by a 19th century bureaucracy with very provincial interests. Fear of systemic failure is secondary to fear of personal failure. This should, in an ideal model, provide for systemic success, if personal and systemic success are symmetric. The perceived asymmetry inherent in public service results in extremely poor economic and social policies. The 21st century is still a ways off.