Current Events #1

Topic: The U.S. Economy
Article Title: The Era of Expert Failure
Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/15/the_era_of_expert_failure_107170.html

Summary: The main point of the article is that the government is relying too much on individual experts to try to fix the economy.  It states that there is no way for specific individuals to predict exactly how to fix the economy because it is far too complex for specific individuals to fix.  It goes on to say that government officials tend to hire experts that promise results, but don't follow through with their promises.  It also states the assumptions of these "experts" are prone to failure, which causes more problems because mistakes made by government experts affect many people and are difficult to fix.  The article says that the biggest problem is that the power to change is concentrated in individuals, while the knowledge needed is widespread and divided.  The author says that giving power to specific individuals hired by the government isn't the answer.  Instead, the article states that experts not being sponsored by the government, such as experts in business and nonprofit institutions, should be searching for solutions.

Reaction: I don't think that it is a bad thing to be consulting with experts.  I think that part of the problem is that, as the article said, part of the problem is that the government is relying too much on specific experts to fix the problems of a complex economy.  The article states that private-sector experts should be working towards a solution, but I don't think that is enough.  As the article said, the knowledge needed is spread out and divided.  Because of that, I think that we should "widen the net" to include others that might have some needed insight, such as university students.

World Impact: This event can impact the rest of the world because the U.S. economy is intertwined with the economies of other countries as well.  The U.S. is a major economic power in the world.  Billions of dollars are traded everyday throughout the world.  The decisions of these experts being hired by the government will ultimately affect the rest of the world in the long run.  As such, if something major were to upset to the economy (like a depression for example), the rest of the world would be hurt as well.