August 27, 2024
Why the government will never manage the economy
By Robert Arvay
In 1973, as a young airman first class, United States Air Force, I was assigned to Yokota Airbase in Japan. It was winter. I had my wife and child with me. Skipping over some details, we were assigned to a special government housing program in which we paid only for utilities, mainly electricity and steam heat. This circumstance was the beginning of my education in practical, real-world economics.
The steam heating system was run by the base commander, who no doubt delegated the operation to subordinates. It was not reliable. Having an infant with us made this an untenable situation. Worse yet, to save money for the government, the heat could be turned off whenever the commander deemed that the cold season was ended, even though the mornings remained cold. The final insult was that we had to pay year-round, to spread our monthly expense to a more affordable level.
For these and other reasons, customers complained to the commander, but he had important duties that took up his time, and so lower-ranking officials responded, meaning nothing improved. Therefore, some people began opting out of the steam heat program, choosing to use the more reliable kerosene heat instead. We could control how much of that to use, and when.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/08/why_the_government_will_never_manage_the_economy.html
