"The American political process is about as broken as the financial system....The Treasury is an outstanding example of a broken system, but it's not the only one....I think people have lost confidence in government, they've lost trust in government, and it shows. This isn't a question just of this Administration. It's been kind of a steady, downhill path." [*]
[*] Business Week: At the Table December 30, 2009, 5:00PM EST
Paul Volcker: The Lion Lets Loose
Charlie Rose talks financial reform with former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker
Business Week: At the Table December 30, 2009, 5:00PM EST
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_02/b4162011026995.htm
3 comments:
This happened because of the inappropriate cap on the membership of the House of Representatives and the enactment of statewide elections for the members of the Senate. The statewide elections mandate happened in 1913 and the destruction of representation in the lower House occurred in 1929. And these errors have produced the current NON REPRESENTATIVE form of government.
The people in the United States no longer have any control over their government. But when you consider the utter lack of education in classical economics and in civics in the public schools it is a chicken and egg problem. The removal of citizen power is justified on the basis that the masses are not educated enough to make economic decisions. And the people who want it that way are going to make sure that this basic education is withheld.
Not to mention the almost complete shut down of the mainstream media on topics that might touch on the the most relevant facts from our economic and political history.
Living as I do do in the USA, I understand that both the press and the two parties are seriously flawed. And they feed off each other in ways that make following the news with interest a challenge. Commentary and reporting are driven by the parties. It's not just history; reporting the present is also a problem.
One of our major problems is that the foreign experience with their political processes are rare, unless people are rioting somewhere. So if my political process is broken, I really can't point to one that is working better and the history of that system. Many places have better policy outcomes, but I don't know enough about their processes to suggest specific reforms for mine.
I don't know if Paul Volcker actually believes that the system is broken, and if so, he doesn't believe that it is broken beyond repair. He states in the same interview that he plans to stay on and try to be more persuasive. If he thinks that will help, that the system is still capable of producing decisions based on his persuasive powers, more power to him. I actually would want a system where people in authority listen to people like Paul Volcker.
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