I noticed in the PEN-L archives a very short exchange on February 13 about government
failure between Jim Devine and JKSCHW. There is a allusion to an earlier discussion
but I have not managed to track that down.
I feel very comfortable with the concept. As a socialist I am happy with the idea
that not only does the market fail but so too does the capitalist state.
Government failure is essentially about rent seeking - individuals and organisations
trying to use the actions of government to increase the value of their property
rights whether these relate to means of production, a specific type of labor power,
or a position in the government or bureaucracy. One of the tasks of a socialism will
be to replace this system of private property with a collective one that eliminates
the wedge between individual and collective interest.
The bourgeois state in its role as economic agent falls down in a number of other
ways that could also be called government failure. Or perhaps they could be seen as
further sub-categories under an some over-arching rubric. As with government failure
proper, they stem not from the poblem of government as such. but rather government
within a capitalist society. The two cases I have in mind are as follows:
1. Even where government regulation has the best of motives, it is faced with the
difficulty of regulating vested interests who don't want to be regulated. This makes
regulation costly and often ineffective. Under socialism there could be greater
reliance on self-regulation and any external supervision would be aided by the
openness of decisionmaking.
2. The capitalist state is lumbered with an inefficient and distorting tax system,
mainly because of political pressure to use it as a means of redistribution. Under
socialism, where work is secure and income fairly equal, it would be feasible to rely
on a non-distorting poll tax.
For a similar discussion of these issue see the following section of my web site:
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dmcm/Articles/FAQ.htm#government
David McMullen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Socialism Web Site
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dmcm
