Sure, It All Sounds Grand, but Don’t Forget the Gravitas By BEN STEIN

The New York Times
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November 9, 2008
Sure, It All Sounds Grand, but Don’t Forget the Gravitas By BEN STEIN

WE will soon have a new leader of the United States. He will have considerable power, yet obviously not nearly enough to deliver on everything that has been promised. With these limitations in mind, herewith are a few suggestions regarding some of the pitfalls ahead in handling economic policy:

HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS Plan what must be done to effect the minimum amount of change you’ll be happy with. All politicians basically promise the moon and the stars to their supporters. For any new president, it’s crucial to try to decide what can be reasonably changed — like naming a new Treasury secretary and having higher taxes for the wealthy. Then the president must set to work on those while his prestige and mandate are still fresh and strong.

CHAMPION ONLY THE SERIOUS IDEAS Don’t sign on to any economic policy proposals without some statistical or theoretical heft to them.

The Republicans lost this election partly because of the heritages of pie-in-the-sky supply-side economics and excess deregulation. I doubt very much that a Democratic president is going to become a supply-sider, but in the campaign there were some other ideas that sound good but have no rigor to them.

Alternative energy sounds nice. But here in California, we have poured plenty of money — in the form of tax credits — into solar power and wind power. The contribution of these sources to our statewide energy product has been very modest. This doesn’t mean that the effort should not be made. But there is a limit to taxpayer resources, and it may be that tax subsidies are not the way to go here.

Likewise, job retraining for workers in industries affected by foreign competition makes anecdotal sense. But the statistical results about this are highly mixed. Maybe some form of relocation assistance would be better.

I am endlessly amazed that I have to pay about $60 an hour to hang a mirror in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and that there is a shortage of reliable handymen there. This has implications for hard-working machinists being laid off in Detroit. Maybe there is some merit to a fund that would take workers where they want to go and are needed.

Another campaign idea was a reconsideration of free trade. But trying to roll back free trade is like putting toothpaste back in the tube. It rarely works, and it makes a tremendous mess while you are trying. The retaliation involved in erecting trade barriers is almost never worthwhile.

Basic hint: If an idea lacks any convincing theory or data to support it, maybe it’s best to avoid it.

BAIL OUT DETROIT Yes, an America without a large automobile and truck industry is not America. This country cannot possibly be a first-class power without maintaining a large motor industry.

The national security considerations make saving General Motors, Ford and Chrysler a life-or-death matter. And the good men and women who make our fine cars have at least as much claim to government help as farmers and bankers do. We’ll want a G.M. or a Chrysler when it’s time to make tanks and Humvees and need their workers’ skills.

HAVE GOOD PEOPLE AROUND And that especially means men and women without axes to grind. The president-elect has some of the best brains on earth around him, especially Warren E. Buffett and Paul A. Volcker. It’s important to make full use of them.

STAY HUMBLE No matter how many electoral votes a president receives, he is mortal. He will make mistakes. Events will pile up that are too much for anyone to handle, so he should be ready to pray over them. A president will be beaten down more than he can expect, and if he is ready with humility, he will be far ahead of the game.