Your last sentence addresses the root problem: the disconnect between the electoral cycle and the time it takes to see positive effects of legislative action (or the negative effects of inaction). I am not a pessimist by nature, but in this case it really does seem as if we cannot have sound long-term decision making and preserve our current political system at the same time.
well peter it's not that non-democratic countries are more forward-looking than democracties in this respect (say china, russia, and more or less all other emerging market economies), unfortunately. so it's not democracy that's the problem here, it's the inability of most humans to think long term
I think there is an inherent problem with four- or five-year election cycles because they create an incentive to reduce long-term thinking and push the can down the road. Having said that absolutist regimes like China or Russia don’t deal with the problem either as Thisbe has pointed out. So I would say the problem is a lack of incentives to think long-term even if there are short-term costs involved. In the end, I fear we will have to have a proper crisis before we take decisive action.
Your last sentence addresses the root problem: the disconnect between the electoral cycle and the time it takes to see positive effects of legislative action (or the negative effects of inaction). I am not a pessimist by nature, but in this case it really does seem as if we cannot have sound long-term decision making and preserve our current political system at the same time.
well peter it's not that non-democratic countries are more forward-looking than democracties in this respect (say china, russia, and more or less all other emerging market economies), unfortunately. so it's not democracy that's the problem here, it's the inability of most humans to think long term
I think there is an inherent problem with four- or five-year election cycles because they create an incentive to reduce long-term thinking and push the can down the road. Having said that absolutist regimes like China or Russia don’t deal with the problem either as Thisbe has pointed out. So I would say the problem is a lack of incentives to think long-term even if there are short-term costs involved. In the end, I fear we will have to have a proper crisis before we take decisive action.