by Matt Barr

Hit or myth

Don Boudreaux says this is the third most pernicious economic myth there is:

Democratically chosen government officials generally act with the intention of promoting the public interest, and they are uniquely positioned and qualified to determine what the details of the public interest are and to know best how to promote that interest.

"I determine the degree of perniciousness by a combination of what I sense to be the myths’ prevalence, the stubbornness with which people cling to them, and their consequences for public policy," he explains. Does anyone cling to this particular belief? Does anyone believe it? It's certainly not prevalent in today's cynical society, I don't think.

You could compellingly argue that the Founding Persons intended for our democracy to embody that myth, but it certainly hasn't, and I haven't met anyone beyond the odd committed liberal who thinks it does. The best we can count on is a politician's desire to get elected or re-elected to keep him on the relative straight and narrow, which, again, is why term limits are a lousy idea.

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