An Economist’s Case for a Non-Interventionist Foreign Policy

#1
utvolpj

utvolpj

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#1
read it this morning and found it pretty interesting. Text is from a talk to foreign Naval officers visiting the Naval War College. The speaker is a teacher at the Naval Postgraduate School. Long-ish read but worth it

An Economist
 
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#2
#2
This is really interesting, worth the read IMO.

It basically boils down to this:

A government that wishes to intervene in another country’s affairs faces the same problem, possibly even magnified by the fact that the small number of government policymakers at the center have even less information about the foreign country than they have about their own country. The problem then becomes one of knowing which countries they should intervene in and, beyond that, even if they seem to have solid grounds for intervening, how to intervene. You might think it’s completely moral, and I might agree with you, to intervene in certain country’s affairs but that doesn’t mean you’re going to do it well and that doesn’t mean it’s going to work.
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You can change the concept of "another country" to "domestic economy" in that quote and it is still true.

When government gets involved, whether it be another country's affairs, or its own economies, it will inevitably result in unintended negative consequences. If not immediately, it will happen eventually.
 
#3
#3
rjd970 said:
This is really interesting, worth the read IMO.

It basically boils down to this:



You can change the concept of "another country" to "domestic economy" in that quote and it is still true.

When government gets involved, whether it be another country's affairs, or its own economies, it will inevitably result in unintended negative consequences. If not immediately, it will happen eventually.
Click to expand...

:yes:
 
#4
#4
The issue with sanctions against Russia is a good example. The balance is punishing Russia's belligerent behavior with tough action vs. economic repercussions either as an effect of sanctions OR an economic response from Russia as a counter.

The EU has a moral dilemma with just how far to go and even if it will have any effect. Welcome to the intertwined global economy.
 
#6
#6
I just wonder if our govt is truly designed to do things like this

He also pointed out – this is more on the information problem – “In order for the policy to work, it is necessary to correctly figure out which countries are going to be your enemies and which your allies 10 years down the road. If you get it wrong, you find yourself unnecessarily blundering into other people’s wars, spending your blood and treasure in their fights instead of theirs in yours. You may, to take an example not entirely at random, get into one war as a result of trying to defend China from Japan” – World War II – “spend the next 30 years trying to defend Japan and Korea and Vietnam from China, and then finally discover that the Chinese are your natural allies against the Soviet Union.”
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what is the incentive of our leaders to look a decade down the road?
 
#10
#10
utvolpj said:
read it this morning and found it pretty interesting. Text is from a talk to foreign Naval officers visiting the Naval War College. The speaker is a teacher at the Naval Postgraduate School. Long-ish read but worth it

An Economist
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Countdown for someone to confuse non-interventionist with isolationist in 5... 4... 3... :unsure:
 
#12
#12
Rasputin_Vol said:
Countdown for someone to confuse non-interventionist with isolationist in 5... 4... 3... :unsure:
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Which is why I posted the article. Although anyone who would confuse the 2 probably won't read it anyways
 
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