Running an economy is not that easy of a task that we simply elect incompetent candidates based solely on money, party support and a slogan and put them in charge of it! It requires a world of knowledge and experience in different areas and the capability to understand all the complicated interconnected and inter-related factors involved. In addition, they need to have a plan, spelled out in detail, as well as a roadmap and a time frame for the execution of that plan.
WHY POLITICIANS FAIL OR END UP BECOMING CORRUPT?
Politicians fail because they are incompetent, unqualified and not prepared for the jobs they are elected for; some of the facts are mentioned below. They become corrupt simply because of these reasons and their drive for getting re-elected--corruption (favoritism, nepotism, etc.) makes it possible!
No businessman understands macro-economics, which is needed to understand an economy to begin with. A businessman's mindset is based on micro-economics at best! Further, a wrong business experience can be even worse and a waste of time. For instance, a corporate raider is not prepared to create jobs when all he has learned is to destroy and eliminate jobs to make an ailing corporation profitable. Similarly, a stock-market expert could blow away the existing pensions of the state employees because all he knows is speculation and manipulation.
Lawyers do not understand economics because:
1) Law is a semi-static discipline, whereas economics is a dynamic discipline--the mindset simply does not exist for running an economy of any kind.
2) To run an economy you need an economic plan to achieve the desired goals. Economic goals cannot be realized without an economic plan! An economic plan cannot be realized by use of legislation. One can legislate, i.e., equal pay for men and women for performing the same jobs, but having job creation realized through legislation leads to rising social cost and wealth-transfer, making it unsustainable on its own.
Assuming all economists with a degree in economics are qualified to run an economy is equally wrong and futile. An analogy would be like having a dermatologist perform brain surgery! Both are medical doctors but the former is unable and unqualified.
Even an economist with a vast knowledge of macro-economic would not be qualified for the job unless s/he understands the inter-relationship and interdependency between all economic factors on one hand, and the confluence of all economic factors with those of environment, technology, energy, raw materials, agriculture, politics, social costs and recurring costs.
Non-economists simply do not understand economics, much less macro-economics. Their knowledge is, at best based on micro-economics, similar to all of us who know something about medicine such as how an aspirin can alleviate headaches; charcoal pills can eliminate stomach gas, etc. When it comes to a brain-surgery they do not know even where to start. It should come as no surprise that no politician with any other educational background could be competent for the job if they do not have the required educational background along with a plan for that particular office.
If we want to create a strong, vibrant, and a recession-free economy, we need to start working toward two goals:
1) Train and educate our future politicians with the right economics, prepare them to run an economy of all kinds, small or big along with all the challenges involved, rising from environment, technology, raw materials, energy, agriculture, social issues, politics, religion, etc.
2) Employ the concepts of Zero Cost Economics to contain the recurring costs and social costs of all kinds; without it no economy can be sustainable for too long.
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