Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
“It is a standard observation that a politician’s time horizon is the next election. This is why long term thinking is not a great feature of political decision making. This does not change — sadly – when the politician changes. We do not think we are being unduly cynical when we say that — we prefer realist anyway as a description. Of course politics is necessary because some amount of state is itself necessary — we are not anarcho-capitalists around here. Politics and elections are how we change which politicians without riots and bloodshed. But if those politicians are always motivated by their own interests — public choice theory certainly insists they are — then we need the best compromise we can get.” (02/03/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/this-is-the-trouble-with-politics