----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Devine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> One reason why there's antagonism toward fiscal policy (versus
monetary
> policy) might be an antagonism toward democracy. After all, the Fed
and the
> Bank of Japan are not subject to very many democratic controls and
is thus
> run by a clique of technocrats who speak _our_ (professional
economists')
> language -- and care about _our_ intellectual fads -- rather than
having to
> care about what's good for the people, as elected officials do in an
> attenuated way. Democracy has been subordinated to special
interests, say
> the anti-democrats, but then they ignore the way that the
"independent"
> central bank has been subordinated to the special interests of
bankers and
> the financial markets.
==================
A few days ago Jim D. also asked about how we could make democratic
decision-making more efficient. I stumbled across this study while
trying to find a book that, if I remember right, is titled "Is
Democracy Efficient?" Anyway, the link to a European site looks like
it's of some interest and relevance to the ping pong-ing Jim and I did
the other day.
< http://users.skynet.be/behadev/democrat/en/ >
Ian
