Political Economy...an essay excerpt from Frédéric Bastiat
Read this and wonder...
"There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must beforeseen.
Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil.
This explains man's necessarily painful evolution. Ignorance surrounds him at his cradle; therefore, he regulates his acts according to their first consequences, the only ones that, in his infancy, he can see. It is only after a long time that he learns to take account of the others.**2 Two very different masters teach him this lesson: experience and foresight. Experience teaches efficaciously but brutally. It instructs us in all the effects of an act by making us feel them, and we cannot fail to learn eventually, from having been burned ourselves, that fire burns. I should prefer, in so far as possible, to replace this rude teacher with one more gentle: foresight. For that reason I shall investigate the consequences of several economic phenomena, contrasting those that are seen with those that are not seenGuess what he's about to discuss? This guy wrote in the mid 1800s, just imagine what he'd say about gov'ts and policies today? Whoa.
Makes one recall the phrase, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
There's ever so much more to read and ponder...and to confound the ignorant liberal in your life...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basEss1.html#
This essay excerpt reminds me of why economics is such a key part of high school and further education. It applies the most basic ingredients and principles of everyday life to the governmental, social, political, and fiscal areas of life. The idea that Bastiat presents is a simple one that I'm sure everyone has heard of: A little sacrifice now leads to prosperity later. One example of my own experience with this principle is refraining from a "cool" iPhone purchase in order to save for a car. This small sacrifice a couple of years ago allowed me to not only buy my first car, but sell it and buy a better one since. Bastiat's suggestion that foresight is essential to economic success is also something that relates to my car example. Foreseeing the inevitable wear of my car's tires, I should probably save some of my Christmas money for replacements rather than spending it on more enjoyable goods. Because I don’t know exactly when my tires will need replacing, and because I’d like to think that they’ve got plenty of tread left, I’m tempted to use the money for something else; something more “fun”. But, imperfect information and my refusal to plan ahead in this instance could cause an accident later when my worn tires won’t hold out in the snow.
ReplyDelete-Amber Bliek