Galbraith Forum

Tuesday, July 29, 2025
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Sheraton Denver Downtown
Plaza Court ABC

"The Curation of Smart Governments: A Personal Journey"

Political-economic landscapes are poorly understood in various countries, including by most economists who usually and naively insist on more public-good type policies that grow the economy and fewer redistributive policies that typically generate deadweight losses. The presumptions underlying the standard economist's advice and counsel to governments have ranged from government being run by angels to governments being manipulated to serve powerful economic interests. An approach to "smart" governments recognize the political-economic processes and employ simultaneously pie-expanding PERT policies (Political-Economic Resource Transactions) and complementary redistributive PEST policies (Political-Economic Seeking Transfers). Of particular importance is the structuring of "smart" PESTs that have both political complementarities and economic complementarities, which increase the size of the economic pie by enhancing resource mobility and/or asset diversification. “Smart” PESTs would also have a sunsetting provision and reduce incentives for organized interest groups to engage in rent-seeking. An intelligently constructed portfolio of PERTs and PESTs results in more evenly distributed political-economic power by overcoming opposition to PERTs that provide opportunities for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.