The Theory of Political Escalation; W. Wessels

The result of such pursuit of special interests might be referred to as "political escalation." Esca lation of a war is the process by Mr. Wessels is a senior majoring in Econ omics at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. which one adversary attacks an other, provoking a counterattack of greater ferocity, and so on un til both are involved beyond their expectations. The process is simi lar in the political sphere. Each group seeks its own gain through government taxation and spend ing at the expense of others. But the others, in turn, seek similar gains, and so on until the net effect is detrimental to everyone involved. Perhaps no particular group would have triggered the process had the result been fore seen - the political escalation that leads to self-destruction. In the free market of open com petition, each individual may know and weigh the benefits and costs to him of a particular action or choice. But when government in tervenes to separate the benefits from the costs, the relationship is blurred for the individual. Others 81 82 THE FREEMAN February share the costs of the benefit he deri ves, and there is no clear cor relation between his own tax bill and the benefits he has sought.

How much higher or lower will his taxes be if he personally seeks or rejects a given benefit? The temptation always is to seek the personal benefit for which all tax payers are obliged to help pay. So it is that everyone has his special lobby in Congress for his own pet project, while there is little if any organized and effective oppo sition to the overall burden of taxes. Thus, we get "government by pressure groups." This process of political escala tion tends to feed upon itself if government intervention is not opposed. Not only are those who seek to gain at others' expense benefited and encouraged; those who want no part of "something for-nothing" are punished with heavier taxation. Thus, the proc ess is pushed both by those who acti vely seek government aid and by those who merely seek compen sation for their heavy tax burden. Unilateral self -responsi bili ty may seem a lonely and unpopular course of action, somewhat like unilateral action for peace when military escalation is rampant.

But if there is to be political de escalation from the increasing burdens of the welfare state, someone will have to make that break. And if he will stand firmly on principle for the right of the individual to live for his own sake, eventually he may find support from others disillusioned by the false promises and mounting costs of socialism. As their numbers in crease, a time will come when some candidate for political office has the courage to campaign for a tax reduction that is soundly based on the elimination of gov ernment give-away programs. Political escalation is a process of self-destruction. To seek some thing-for-nothing from others makes bums of those who try it and also victimizes those who would assume their own responsi bilities. It thus behooves every responsible person to unalterably oppose all the programs of the welfare state and the political escalation by which mankind is led to destruction. ~ Unfit to Serve THE MAN who is aware of his inability to stand competition scorns "this mad competitive system." He who is unfit to serve his fellow' citizens wants to rule them.

LUDWIG VON MISES, Bureaucracy GovernmentVS. Private Operation DAVID L. BABSON IT HAS become the fashion - especially among politicians, union bosses, and businessmen - to call more and more on the government for action. The extent to which its share of the economy has mushroomed over the years is shown below: Year Current 1963 1960 1955 1947 1940 1935 1929 FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY Employment 0/(1 of Total Expenditures % of Gross (Millions) Employment (Billions) National Product 11.7 15.7% $243 30.8% 9.5 13.8 171 29.2 8.5 12.8 137 27.2 6.9 11.0 99 24.8 5.5 9.5 44 18.7 4.2 8.8 18 18.4 3.5 8.2 13 18.4 3.1 6.4 10 9.8 Note that the public share of employment has been rising faster since 1947 than it did during New Deal days. Also observe that 15.7 per cent of all workers (one out of six) are now on public payrolls compared with 6.4 per cent (one out of sixteen) in 1929. The preceding table shows that the public sector now accounts for This article is reprinted by permission from the November 16, 1967, "Investment Coun sel" letter of David L. Babson and Company, Inc., of Boston.