Hangover

The first minute and fifteen seconds are commercials. Then comes a bio of the guest, Niall Ferguson, which lasts until about three minutes and thirty seconds into the video. Then you get about twenty minutes of good stuff.

The video was recorded in February. In the interim it looks like there may have been a change in political direction even if the results so far are meager. Inflection points are by definition the beginning of change. And at the inflection point there is balance. But there is also momentum. And ultimately the question is: how much force can be applied for how long in order to increase the velocity towards the goal? Just getting to the inflection point is not enough.

And something else. Mr. Ferguson says no one has been discussing his preferred solution – Privatization. That is not true. Harry Browne who ran for President on the Libertarian ticket in 2000 and who I strongly supported at the time was saying exactly that during his campaign. The Federal Government owns too much of America.

And let me also speak to his last point. The trouble with our education system. The solutions are appearing in places like Kahn Acadamy among others. It would be really good if our education system wasn’t so reactionary. But it doesn’t matter. The Lower Education Bubble will burst. The end is in train. We just can’t say when. The if is not in doubt.

Niall’s book Civilization: The West and the Rest will be out in November.

Cross Posted at Power and Control


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2 responses to “Hangover”

  1. Tom Scharf Avatar
    Tom Scharf

    This is the stupidest concept I have ever heard. You sell your house to pay living expenses & debts, then you have to rent the house back. Sooner or later you run out of money and find yourself out on the street with nothing to eat.

  2. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    Tom,

    Stupid? The normal way to fix a debt problem with insufficient income is to sell assets.

    Now consider that because the government owns them they are insufficiently productive.