tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6897479481146623890.post5593390676607809498..comments2023-12-27T09:39:29.958-07:00Comments on Brian Dell: policy development and the "grassroots"Brian Dellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277892651810185583noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6897479481146623890.post-1151950425003466042009-10-20T09:21:15.669-06:002009-10-20T09:21:15.669-06:00Thanks Brian, I look forward to your further discu...Thanks Brian, I look forward to your further discussions.<br /><br />And I agree very much with what you have fleshed out here in the comments. I also know we all have our biases and personal agenda's, but having a clear and transparent framework for a policy discussion and development is critical.<br /><br />But, of course, the very most important thing is to have intelligent and passionate people (such as yourself) involved, and that is where we are ahead as the Wildrose Alliance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6897479481146623890.post-79644984381042778562009-10-19T12:20:01.339-06:002009-10-19T12:20:01.339-06:00Another thing about academics is while they may no...Another thing about academics is while they may not be tied to a special interest, that doesn't mean they can't be the most ideological.<br /><br />Amongst academic economists, there are some bias issues but nothing like what one would get from an "economist" working for a union.Brian Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01987594019787137564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6897479481146623890.post-36435660988034496222009-10-19T12:09:53.485-06:002009-10-19T12:09:53.485-06:00I am reminded of a tactic sometimes used in child-...I am reminded of a tactic sometimes used in child-rearing: "do you want to go to bed in this place or in that place" instead of "do you want to go to bed now?" It's "illusory choice", and I don't presume for a moment that the current party executive intends to treat the membership like children. It's rather that empowering ordinary people ought to consist of consciousness raising as opposed to giving them choices that must inevitably be given within a "choice architecture." They could be getting illusory choices without the people granting the choices understanding how the choices are illusory as well.Brian Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01987594019787137564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6897479481146623890.post-84190354249482251532009-10-19T11:52:23.781-06:002009-10-19T11:52:23.781-06:00I'll go into details over the coming weeks and...I'll go into details over the coming weeks and months. The main ideas are to encourage more savings and investment throughout the economy, not just by government (which cannot be relied on to save), and make it more difficult for the government to overspend, since making it difficult to raise taxes is no real assurance against overspending. The next generation ought to be able to demand that an Albertan-owned financial or physical capital asset be in place in a province that is exhausting its nonrenewable resources. To date, that financial asset in particular isn't there.<br /><br />re academics, I understand where u are coming from. A lot of them are leftists who don't live in the real world. My point ought to rather be that there needs to be some commonly recognized transparent rules for how the policy debate will be conducted. Academics have rules such that certain kinds of research procedures are considered more likely to lead to authoritative conclusions. My concern is that certain unknown people in influential positions will decide policy and then arrange the policy conferences to support a certain outcome. <br /><br />In theory, Stelmach's leadership review next month is a free membership vote, but in practice it is rigged in a variety of ways not entirely clear to the general public. This is very typical for politics where "grassroots" ends up being a cover story for what would otherwise be naked power plays.<br /><br />I am all about evidence based policy. It sounds like I am making it about me and what I want when what what I really want is not certain conclusions but the most sound way of arriving at those conclusions. I am certainly prepared to change my views in the light of new evidence. We need scientific government, in my opinion. That would overlap some with academics in government but it is true that it is not the same thing.Brian Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01987594019787137564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6897479481146623890.post-61650225070277932612009-10-19T09:21:32.094-06:002009-10-19T09:21:32.094-06:00Some points as a fellow Wildroser:
Could you plea...Some points as a fellow Wildroser:<br /><br />Could you please offer some more details as to your prosals, I am intrigued but not an economist and thus I need some more explanation if possible. Especially in terms of the tax policy changes you suggest.<br /><br />I reject your general rules regarding academia outright. As you conclude, what matters is the details. It's time to drop the assumptions and focus on the facts and details.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com