A Critique of Government That Liberals Need to Hear
b'Government is a bureaucratic, slow-moving institution. It\\u2019s too easily captured by special interests. It\\u2019s often incapable of acting at the speed and scale our problems demand. And when it does act, it can make things worse. Look no further than the Food and Drug Administration\\u2019s slowness to approve rapid coronavirus tests or major cities\\u2019 inability to build new housing and public transit or Congress\\u2019s failure to pass basic voting rights legislation.\\n\\nThis criticism is typically weaponized as an argument for shrinking government and outsourcing its responsibilities to the market. But the past two years have revealed the hollowness of that approach. A pandemic is a problem the private sector simply cannot solve. The same is true for other major challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change and technology-driven inequality. Ours is an age in which government needs to be able to do big things, solve big problems and deliver where the market cannot or will not.\\n\\nAlex Tabarrok is an economist at George Mason University, a blogger at Marginal Revolution and for years has been one of the sharpest libertarian critics of big government. But the experience of the pandemic has changed his thinking in key ways. \\u201cNinety-nine years out of 100, I\\u2019m a libertarian,\\u201d he told me last year. \\u201cBut then there\\u2019s that one year out of 100.\\u201d\\n\\nSo this conversation is about the central tension that Tabarrok and I are grappling with right now: Government failure has never been more apparent \\u2014 and yet we need government more than ever.\\n\\nWe discuss (and debate) the public choice theory of government failure, why it\\u2019s so damn hard to build things in America, how reforms intended to weaken special interests often empower them, why the American right is responsible for much of the government dysfunction it criticizes, the case for state capacity libertarianism, the appropriate size of the welfare state, the political importance of massive economic inequality and how the crypto world\\u2019s pursuit of decentralization could backfire.\\n\\nMentioned:\\n\\nThe Rise and Decline of Nations by Mancur Olson\\n\\n\\u201cIt\\u2019s Time to Build\\u201d by Marc Andreessen\\n\\n\\u201cThe bulldozer vs. vetocracy political axis\\u201d by Vitalik Buterin\\n\\nBook recommendations:\\n\\nThe Anarchy by William Dalrymple\\n\\nIndia: A Story Through 100 Objects by Vidya Dehejia\\n\\nThe Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\\n\\n\\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d is produced by Annie Galvin, Jeff Geld and Rog\\xe9 Karma; fact-checking by Michelle Harris; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Jeff Geld; audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Our executive producer is Irene Noguchi. Special thanks to Kristin Lin.'