The Failure of Government Economic Policy with Dan Tubb - WBD642

Dan Tubb is a podcaster and former venture capitalist. In this
interview, we discuss the problems with fixing the sovereign debt
problem in the context of broken media, broken politics and
broken international institutions. We talk about the general
ignorance of the problems facing society, and how this compounds
the difficulty of resolving the situation.


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The last show with Dan Tubb was extremely popular. Dan set out in
clear terms why the current economic system is at a crossroads:
continuation of the accumulation of debt without rebalancing
fiscal commitments is unsustainable; equally, there are no easy
solutions. But when debt payments become one of the main
government expenditures it’s well past the time to act.


In this follow-up show we discuss the causes, ramifications and
potential mitigations with Dan. How did the boomer generation
unintentionally fuel the current economic problems, and why are
they reluctant to change tack? Why is government becoming
increasingly dogmatic and coercive in their policy application?
Can AI provide a source of growth for the economy that averts the
debt spiral? Should we expect the government to resolve all these
issues?


These aren’t theoretical concerns; there is evidence abounds that
society's relationship with the state is shifting: Macron’s
difficulties in reigning in state spending in France; the growth
in power of the Dutch farmers; Brexit. For too long those in
government have taken the electorate for granted, whilst
feathering their own nests. However, the issue is whether this
break between the people and power will only exacerbate problems.


The solution surely has to be in more direct engagement between
decision-makers and citizens. States rights in the US have long
served as a beacon of governance for other parts of the world:
bottom up democracy that provides for competition and innovation.
It’s not that we need less government, it's that we need more
representative and localised government. Further, if we want a
functioning democracy, we need to entice the best back into
government.