That’s the title of a panel discussion at AEI with With Steven B. Kamin moderating, and Jason Furman, Julia Coronado, Nathan Sheets and Desmond Lachman participating.
Wednesday, January 24, 1:15 pm Eastern – click to register.
(Steve Kamin’s last posts on Econbrowser, here and recent discussion of a paper of his here).
AEI was founded to oppose “New Deal” policies and has always been funded by corporate interests. Among its current funders is ExxonMobil, so it’s no surprise AEI offered a $10,000 bounty to scholars who would write articles disputing the 2007 report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/feb/02/frontpagenews.climatechange
At the time, a retired Exxon CEO was vice-chair of AEI’s board.
AEI has included included among its “fellows” Iraq War architect John Bolton, “Bell Curve” author Charles Murray, conspiracy theorist and admitted felon Dinesh D’Souza , Iraq War architect Richard Cheney, Iraq War apologist and author of “Dow 36,000” James K. Glassman, Newt Gingrich (no explanation needed), gun-hugger-and-gun-data-maker-upper John Lott (aka Mary Roche) and Iraq War Architect and opponent of “lax multiculturalism” Richard Perle. I could go on.
AEI hires a good many legitimate scholars and funds some good work, but never forget there is an underlying agenda, and it isn’t driven by scholarship.
Congressional Salaries should be $294,000
https://www.princetonpolicy.com/ppa-blog/2024/1/19/congressional-salaries-should-be-294000
Not if they are based on accomplishments and merit!
“Pay structure matters, because it is the key tool for ensuring good governance, including, for example, ‘draining the swamp’, addressing corruption in Ukraine”
It seems Stupid Steve does not know the difference between Ukraine and the US. Trust me – the rest of his post was even more worthless.
Well, I think that’s exactly the debate. Who should serve in Congress, and how should they be paid?
Should Congressman and Senators be just any Dick or Harry? Or are we trying to recruit accomplished persons with other professional options? Should it be just rich people? Do we want Ivy League types to do the work? Is allocating a $6 trillion budget a garbage job which could be done by, say, people with high school degrees or drug problems? Does experience or expertise matter, or can amateurs dole out the cash as expertly?
Right now, I think the MAGA crowd believes government has become a joke and a burn-it-to-the-ground attitude is justified; indeed, democracy itself is nothing but a joke in the minds of many on the right. That would seem to call for minimizing Congressional salaries. Do you agree with that?
And then there’s the structure of pay. Do you want legislators to be motivated to make good use of funds, to prefer policies that promote growth and limit the increase in debt? Or are you a spoils-to-the-victor type of guy? Should lawmakers be simply motivated to maximize the flow of funds to their constituents and preferred causes at the expense of efficiency, effectiveness and the greater public good? Should their compensation be tied to the GDP growth rate, the change in government debt, or the productivity of government spending? Or should legislators be insulated from such pressures?
I personally would be thrilled if Menzie did a post on the subject, because I think we need to talk about whether government is actually a serious business, or merely a cover for factional theft, or immune to the quality of legislators. Here’s a title: “Are Congressmen really worth $294,000?” You can use my graph.