The Eonomist Magazine Feature this Week
Obviously Washington is not working to the expectations of most Americans. Some call it partisan gridlock; some say TeamObama's policies are unpopular. I think people's views are shaped by a lingering bad recession and the absurd complexity of laws and regulations that thwart the American dream that we have grown up to believe in.
Has the dream become dependent on Washington? If so, government has become far too overbearing and has hindered rather than enabled personal success for Everyman.
Without doubt, the voracious spending of Government has created a debt that cannot be repaid and will only be settled by a deflation of the currency sometime in the future.
Washington is not 'working' for Americans
Imagine a democracy where politicians representing only a tenth of the population can frustrate the will of the majority, where the legislature is divided up into absurdly gerrymandered seats, where money politics is rife, where bipartisanship has disappeared—and where nothing ever gets done. With Congress failing to do anything about health care, climate change or the deficit, that is how an increasing number of Americans see Washington. Meanwhile businesspeople and politicians in the emerging world contrast this paralysis with China's autocratic efficiency. In our cover leader we look at the idea that Washington is broken. We argue that it is wrong to blame the system, not least because it lets Barack Obama off the hook. The main reason why his laws are not passing is because they are unpopular. He has done too little to win over independents and Republicans.
Here are some other pieces from this week's issue you might also be interested in. You can click straight through to each one and read it at
The Economist online
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