> Speaking of which, a very interesting point by Martin Wolf, in
> response to that canard that GM is the x biggest economy in the
> world, bigger than some major countries
> <http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/highlights/opinions_july_01/>,
> which segues into an important difference between GM and
governments:
"Finally, Hertz seems unaware of the vast literature on why unbridled democracy is dangerous. She talks of "we" the people as if that naive collectivist notion was unproblematic. But we know that those who are willing to give their time and money to politics do not always have the aggregate interest at heart. Many voters are rationally ignorant about the issues confronting them, because the return on acquiring the knowledge is so small. The interesting question is not why do people fail to vote, but why do they vote, given the tiny probability that they will affect the outcome. And more important, we have no reason to suppose that those who run the state will necessarily be selfless servants of the public weal."
So we have an Anthony Downs, Mancur Olson and James Buchanan acolyte on collective action as organized delusion wondering why 'idiots in Seattle' by their very action falsify the very theory to which he still adheres in the face of historical evidence to the contrary. More 'proof' economics is not a science and cognitive rigidity is endemic among elites. How entertaining. I wonder if Wolf would call the Seattle mob idiots if he were in a room with them?
Ian