The Pleasure Principle and the Economy

• Tweet
• Pin It

In the midst of economic calamity…

If a process doesn’t work, and repeating that process brings about the same negative result, why would one would keep doing it?

I refer to massive federal financial intervention, of course…

It failed to end the Great Depression in the 1930’s—in fact it made things worse…

And Henry Morgenthau’s famous lament in 1939 certainly rings true today…

“After eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started…And enormous debt to boot.”

And it certainly hasn’t lifted Japan out of its economic funk after 20 years of federal intervention.

But here we are, being told to choke down another huge dose of federal fix-it-all fiscal elixir…

Lectured to take what’s good for us from a president with a deep well of…

Well, gee, what should we call it…faith? …

That state paternalism is the way to macroeconomic recovery.

A tale of 2 macroeconomic theories

But why is there such a split amongst people on the ideas of how an economy best works?

In broad strokes, one school of thought, laissez-faire capitalism says that individuals acting in their own self-interest…

Will result in Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” that steers capital, goods and services, and labor to where they are most wanted and needed.

It embraces the law of supply and demand…

And eschews the idea that individuals need to be told how to run their lives.

Laissez-faire economics believes that left alone, the market will work as efficiently as it can, or at least will trend that direction.

On the other hand, statist economists think that economic planning from above is the key to the best economy.

Karl Marx codified this idea, among others, in his book Das Kapital.

This philosophy views government as the agent which corrects the ills, both economic and social…

And that the market place does not affect it as much or as positively as they think it should.

To do this most effectively…private property is eliminated.

This heavy hand of government is definitely not invisible.

The problem with this view of the role of government in the macro economy?

It imposes its will upon otherwise free people…

And causes distortions in the economy that otherwise would not be there.

It coerces us to do what we may not otherwise do in a free market…

And tends to become larger, more powerful, and more oppressive as time passes.

The 20^th century is full of examples of this.

And you know what?

These two basic typologies also apply to people in power.

There’s the live-and-let-live kind…

And the do-what-I-say-I-know-better-than-you kind…

What kind do we have right now?

Exactly.

But have you ever asked yourself where that know-it-all attitude comes from?

Political behavioral psychology

Well, about 80 years ago a guy named Harold D. Laswell had an idea…

That political behavior is an extension or even an expression of the personality and psychological needs within the political actor…

It essentially means that whatever is lacking in a politician’s psyche, s/he tries to fill that need when in office.

Now that’s heavy...

And scary.

Some would say it is wrong to ascribe motive to actions and policies…

But since the White House has already labeled anyone who doesn’t want to pay higher taxes as selfish…

And who thinks that the economy needs more regulation to protect us from ourselves…

I feel alright in identifying a few motives myself…

Let’s do this by way of comparison…

Let’s look at Ronald Reagan…

Reagan thought government spent too much money…

And that people should pay fewer taxes, not more…

And that less regulation meant more freedom and prosperity.

He also described America as a shining city on a hill…

And still a place for economic advancement and opportunity.

And also said that government intervention wasn’t the solution to economic stagnation…

But rather, the problem…

However, to our current President…

Government intervention and regulation is the solution to a stagnant economy...

Higher taxes are fairer…

And America needs to apologize to the world…

So this begs the question…

Just what psychological canyon does this President need to fill?

The state as ego

“L’etat c’est moi,” said King Luis XIV of France.

“I am the state.”

Rings awfully familiar to “I am the one we’ve been waiting for,” doesn’t it?

What does this have to do with macroeconomics?

Just about everything.

The president who transcended race and transcended the wishes of 70% of the county…

And who felt entitled to spend the country into economic oblivion…

Has yet to transcend himself…

Because if he had…

Why would he place such resilient and fervent belief in such destructive macroeconomic policies…

That continue to not work for the country…

As well as not for countries around the globe today?

One may conclude that…

The power rush of destroying the nation’s economy must fill quite an unusual—and deep--psychological need…

But one can only guess just which need it might be…

Putting the Id in ideology

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality describes the id as that part of a personality that tries to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires.

The id operates based on the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of needs…

In other words, the Id-in-Chief is just doing what feels good…damn the consequences.

One can only deduce that crushing the financial futures of millions of Americans must quite satisfying…

And if this leaves the world’s largest economy in a free fall…

If the suffering of millions of Americans in financial misfortunes occurs…

Well, it’s for a good cause…

And a great pleasure.

And those are…The Gorrie Details.

facebook   twitter   linkedin   reddit   email