The presidential political campaigns are on. We are campaigning in earnest. Untold millions will be spent on efforts to get specific people elected. There will be a positive result for only one person. It’s guaranteed that every other one will fail. I wonder if spending all this money helps us elect a better president. Is all this spending productive in any way?
We don’t build anything; the money just goes around in circles. People donate to campaigns. Campaigns pay their staff. Staff buy media ads. Media outlets take the money, broadcast some ads, and pay their employees. Employees buy groceries, houses, and cars. Some employees might even make political contributions. What just happened? Where did the money go? Where is the benefit?
Maybe in economic terms that’s all that has to happen. Maybe it doesn’t matter what money gets spent on, as long as it gets spent. Whether there is any benefit or not is irrelevant. Is that all that economics is about; money going around in circles?
Just for the sake of conversation, what if we spent the same untold millions on say, rebuilding building roads and bridges? When we were all through, at least we could point to the improved roads and bridges as something accomplished. There you have it. I stand before you, my political and economic naiveté totally exposed.
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