Rather than waiting until the next cascade is imminent, and then following the usual modus operandi of propping up the handful of firms that seem to pose the greatest threat, it may be time for a new approach: preventing the system from becoming overly complex in the first place.

Good article. Draw your own conclusions for nationalizing health care.

The problem is, of course, in a representative republic like ours, those people who either have the most to gain or lose are powerfully motivated to lobby for changes in the system in their favor, and the legislative (and occasionally executive) branch is usually happy to comply. This dynamic complicates things of its own accord. The tax code is the most obvious example. Congress happily “sells” amendments to the tax code to interested parties in exchange for campaign contributions or offers changes out of intellectual sympathy. Sometimes this is a good thing: if it turns out a tax law passed is in danger of wiping out a whole class of small businesses, their lobbying for a loophole is a net gain. But, of course, we know the converse, which is where sugar growers in Florida or textile makers in the Carolinas or whoever wherever gets lawmakers to impose punitive taxes on their competitors.

There’s no obvious way of fixing this dynamic short of a massive overhaul of the tax code—with the understanding that Congress will lay off it in the future no matter how hard they’re lobbied. Such a hope may take us outside our understanding of human nature, alas…

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.