LET'S MEDITATE
Let's recap and meditate about what those numbers are telling us. To begin with, we set-up our little experiment to illuminate the premeditated decision that politicians make in opposite economic conditions. This is not about how much they borrow (this was already explained in many other articles) but about making the decision to borrow. What this process allows us to elucidate is the state of mind of politicians. From the results it is absolutely and unquestionable clear that the decision is voluntary and it is to borrow and spend regardless of economic conditions. Let's say this again:
Politicians borrow and spend regardless of economic conditions.
This truth is one of the most important ones ever outlined and supported by evidence using their numbers. We haven't seen very many academic articles analyzing the mental process of politicians because it is a tabu subject. Academic drones being fed by politicians are not supposed to bite the hand that feeds them and therefore they do not get involved in potentially "dangerous" topics.
This is one of the most important and seminal truths. Almost everything that politicians do stem from this principle. All policies, debts, payments, booms, boosts and so on originate in the fact that politicians spend. Always!
This little article demonstrates without any room for debate that given the choice between borrowing, paying debt or do nothing, politicians will almost always and under any economic circumstances choose to borrow and spend.
We must underline this fact again. They have three choices and they overwhelmingly choose to borrow and spend. The choice is theirs and they always make the same one.
WHY DO WE NEED THEM?
Good question. If politicians borrow and spend all the time, we don't need them. We can borrow and spend by ourselves. We don't need an intermediary to get into deep, deep debt troubles. The fact that they spend all the time makes it clear that there really is no economic know-how or common sense behind their actions. Their actions are fully driven by other considerations, and these considerations are purely personal and hence of political nature. It is for this reason that we always say that when politicians make decisions they are looking out for themselves and only themselves. The only theory under which borrowing and spending all the time makes sense is the one dictating that in order to remain in power politicians must spend all the time. Any other theory would create circumstances where borrowing and spending would not be recommended. Yet, we don't see that in the data. The data does not show switching sections where it would be clear that politicians have taken any of the other decisions. What this means is that anything and everything bad that happens at an economic level is to be blamed very accurately on politicians. As politicians make the voluntary decision to borrow and spend, anything that follows is their fault. This is not an exercise of passing the blame to somebody; this is the truth according to their own data!
In a strange sense, when people in the street speak about an economic disaster being government's fault, they are essentially correct! It IS government's fault. But we can go further. As it is government's fault, politicians will "do something" and this "something" will be… drumroll please…borrow and spend! It is for this very reason that the entire world is spinning out of control and flushed down the toilet. Because politicians do one thing and one thing only: borrow and spend. Expecting a different result while taking the same action time and time again is madness…or politics.
CHEATERS, LIARS AND GOVERNMENTS
We explained in our article Government Morality why is it that politicians need to lie but this article provides the smoking gun as to the means they use to do so. At its most basic, at the very bottom of their cheating and lying rests the fact that they can continue to borrow and spend unconstrained, and they do. This process of not having any real, practical limitation as to what they do with our money and our future is the very enabler of their behaviour. The fact that they always borrow and spend is the demonstration that they cannot control themselves. They are addicts of Socialism - The Most Addictive Drug.
People believe that somewhere there are "honest" politicians. Let's be clear. They do not exist. This is so because the very fact that when somebody goes into politics automatically necessitates for this person to lie as the cornerstone of their job description. Knowing this and knowing that they can enable their perpetuation in their jobs through the expedient means of simply borrow and spend makes it a foregone conclusion that they will. And our little article shows that they do!
CONCLUSION
This article made an honest attempt to elucidate the decisions that politicians make regarding one of the most critical economic decisions they can possibly make: get countries into debt. We believe we have demonstrated that the decisions they make are not for the "greater good" but for their "own good". Basically given the chance to choose between our wellbeing and their wellbeing, theirs wins all the time. But if this is indeed the case, why do we want people with power over us who systematically and continuously make decisions that go against our best interests? Answer: we do not.
Of course, this is not to say that their propaganda isn't good. It is. It is the best propaganda that our money can buy!
This is the reason why we are Libertarians, because we can't tolerate insult, injury and on top poverty. Worse, these conditions are artificially produced and imposed on all of us by people who have no actual right to do so (see Social Contracts Are A Scam).
And then we will always have the opposite point of view. People that will always believe that politicians are from the government and they are here to help. Fair enough, that's their right but we see no reason why they have to impose their point of views, economic debacles and wars upon us. It is funny how when one presents this question to them, they are suddenly incapable of assembling a coherent answer without making use of the deeply flawed principle of authority. In summary, to them things are this way because they are this way. Fair enough. Drones will be drones. Just one last question, who are they going to ask for help once their masters become incapable of providing for them? Certainly not us… And they will deserve it because in ultimate analysis, they are responsible for themselves. For their "greater good".
Reference: Paolo Mauro, Rafael Romeu, Ariel Binder and Asad Zaman, 2013, "A Modern History of Fiscal Prudence and Profligacy," IMF Working Paper No. 13/5, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.
