Comments on: A more in-depth description of how elites maintain status quo ante http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html Finance, Economics and Markets Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:37:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Sackerson http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html#comment-58425 Sackerson Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:29:00 +0000 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html#comment-58425 You forgot sumptuary laws; and noblesse oblige, manifested in the administration of justice, poor relief, military service etc. You forgot sumptuary laws; and noblesse oblige, manifested in the administration of justice, poor relief, military service etc.

]]> By: Edward Harrison http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html#comment-58422 Edward Harrison Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:41:00 +0000 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html#comment-58422 I am snowed-in in Washington right now so I have had a good opportunity to see how public services are dispensed at a time when most see them as critical. I went out for a brief drive to the grocery store. I was astounded how badly the major roads were plowed. There were almost NO patches were one could see actual pavement. This city will be paralyzed for some time to come. The interesting thing for me is that I plowed my own street (with a shovel) for a length of about 25 feet. I imagine if everyone did this on side roads where they live instead of waiting for the snow plows to come, we would be back functioning much quicker. So when I think of government services I think a lot about things like garbage collection and parks and snow plowing as well as schools, fire stations and police stations as that is what you see immediately. Obviously, any of these services can be contracted privately or provided by the state. The question is which ones should be and how does this affect income distribution (rich people can afford to buy these services more). So when you talk of uneven redistribution of tribute that goes to some of what you're saying. In an economic contraction people will find fewer services like snow plowing, recycled garbage collection or park maintenance being offered at previous standards. And that's when I think people confront the reality of what government does for them, helping shape what we perceive as the necessary functions of government. I am snowed-in in Washington right now so I have had a good opportunity to see how public services are dispensed at a time when most see them as critical. I went out for a brief drive to the grocery store. I was astounded how badly the major roads were plowed. There were almost NO patches were one could see actual pavement. This city will be paralyzed for some time to come.

The interesting thing for me is that I plowed my own street (with a shovel) for a length of about 25 feet. I imagine if everyone did this on side roads where they live instead of waiting for the snow plows to come, we would be back functioning much quicker.

So when I think of government services I think a lot about things like garbage collection and parks and snow plowing as well as schools, fire stations and police stations as that is what you see immediately. Obviously, any of these services can be contracted privately or provided by the state. The question is which ones should be and how does this affect income distribution (rich people can afford to buy these services more). So when you talk of uneven redistribution of tribute that goes to some of what you’re saying.

In an economic contraction people will find fewer services like snow plowing, recycled garbage collection or park maintenance being offered at previous standards. And that’s when I think people confront the reality of what government does for them, helping shape what we perceive as the necessary functions of government.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html#comment-58421 Anonymous Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:28:00 +0000 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/02/a-more-in-depth-description-of-how-elites-maintain-status-quo-ante.html#comment-58421 I like your list, but I think 2. ramifies in ways that bear further discussion. After provision of certain public goods, redistributing tribute downwards becomes worse than a zero-sum game. To sustain this in a democracy requires the public to mentally overvalue what they receive back, or for the redistribution to be uneven in a way that the incremental impact of favored constituencies on perpetuating the power structure outweighs the impact on those who don't benefit. There may be other possibilities, but the first seems like a behavioral economics question, the second possibly an applied math problem. I like your list, but I think 2. ramifies in ways that bear further discussion. After provision of certain public goods, redistributing tribute downwards becomes worse than a zero-sum game. To sustain this in a democracy requires the public to mentally overvalue what they receive back, or for the redistribution to be uneven in a way that the incremental impact of favored constituencies on perpetuating the power structure outweighs the impact on those who don’t benefit. There may be other possibilities, but the first seems like a behavioral economics question, the second possibly an applied math problem.

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