Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window - Steve Wozniak

Here’s Your $1.5 Billion.  Spend It Wisely

by Hal_10000

Arnold Kling, in a very good post on the stimulus package, notes the following:

How many people will have meaningful input in determining the overall allocation of the billion stimulus? 10? 20? It won’t be more than 1000. These people--let’s say that in the end 500 technocrats will play a meaningful role in writing the bill--will have unimaginable power. Remember that what they are doing is taking our money and deciding for us how to spend it. Presumably, that is because they are wiser at spending our money than we are at spending it ourselves.

The arithmetic is mind-boggling. If 500 people have meaningful input, and the stimulus is almost $800 billion, then on average each person is responsible for taking more than $1.5 billion of our money and trying to spend it more wisely than we would spend it ourselves. I can imagine a wise technocrat taking $100,000 or perhaps even $1 million from American households and spending it more wisely than they would. But $1.5 billion? I do not believe that any human being knows so much that he or she can quickly and wisely allocate $1.5 billion.

One point: Obama is apparently going to do this more from the tax cut side than the spending side (although dipshits like John Kerry oppose even that).  But the general point holds.  The basic point of the stimulus spending is that the government will more wisely spend our money than we would.

As I mentioned during the Presidential debates, the biggest problem with TARP was having a select few people in charge of the pursestrings.  Spendign it effectively required a degree of wisdom that no one is capable of.  Now that we are deep into planning Stimulus II: The Search For More Money, I still haven’t seen any display of shocking wisdom and insight that will enable the government to spend the money wisely.

(H/T: Cafe Hayek)

Comments

Posted by on 01/09/09 at 10:55 AM from

I think that analysis is slightly off. They’ve decided that they can spend our children’s (and grandchildren’s) money better than the children could.

I have a 7yo and two 3yos, and I’m getting really concerned for them when this bill comes due.

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