Ideology and Policy

Regardless of our economic system, we need a government that performs its basic functions competently. The problem is that ideology is eroding our institutional capacity to make good policy.

A great example is the global warming debate. Our political leaders lagged for years, but might finally be catching up. Obviously, though, their commitment is superficial. They haven't really assimilated the fact of global warming into their worldview.

This is obvious in Congress's decision to start Daylight Saving Time earlier this year. Now, it's true that historically the big cause of the rise in global temperatures has been carbon accumulation in the astmosphere. It's hard to avoid the conclusion, though, that an extra hour of sunlight a day will have a substantial effect. True, it comes in the springtime (in the northern hemisphere), but the heat will accumulate and much of it will persist into the summer.

What's really infuriating is that everyone is treating it as a minor change. It's not a minor change for the polar bears that find their habitat literally melting away. Even if you don't care about polar bears, global warming is projected to cause desertification in Africa and South Asia. People could die because Congress is so stupid and ignorant that it doesn't understand the basics of global warming.