More Greetings from Aix!
Well, I gave my talk on developments in the regulatory state and their effects on the structure of the state itself. ‘Twas well received. I discussed the progress in deregulation of prices and diminution or elimination of entry restrictions, with all of their manifest benefits. (Not only increased innovation and improvements in consumer welfare, but also a real increase in freedom, which is desirable for its own sake.) That was the good news. Then I discussed the new forms taken by state regulations, especially with regard to setting of standards of all sorts. The delegation of such vast new regulatory powers to relatively unaccountable agencies and commissions has shifted the function of legislative representatives from representing the wishes or interests of their constituents to being fixers or facilitators when constituents suffer from the arbitrary power of bureaucrats. The legislators can avoid responsibility for the cascade of new regulations and take credit for championing individual constituents who suffer from those regulations. They even work to get their constituents special exemptions, thus even further undermining the rule of law. It’s not all that complicated, but it’s still too complicated to bang out on a French keyboard with a relatively slow connection, so I’ll have to put off posting an essayette on this subject until I return to the U.S. and my normal keyboard and internet connection.
Tomorrow I’ll speak on “The Clash of Civilizations” and the prospect for a universal civilization. Huntington’s thesis is most interesting (I think that his focus on civilizations is in fact helpful in understanding international relations) but it suffers from being built on a foundation of mercantilist thinking. I’ll suggest improvements in the form of insights from J.-B. Say and FrÃ?Â?Ã?©dÃ?Â?Ã?©ric Bastiat. When one understands the mutual benefits of trade, the picture painted by Huntington becomes much less dark.
A bient���´t !