“While political capitalism as an economic system has barely been recognized, the building blocks that form a theoretical foundation for political capitalism are firmly in place and well-accepted. In political science and sociology, the ideas of elite domination and biased pluralism are mainstream concepts that are a fundamental part of political capitalism.”
Political capitalism is an economic and political system in which the economic and political elite cooperate for their mutual benefit. While the essential idea of political capitalism has a long history, it has not been recognized as a distinct economic system.
In part, this is due to the 20th-century vision of economic systems as capitalist, as socialist, or a mixed economy that contains elements of both capitalism and socialism. It has also been due to the frequent vision of government as an institution that acts in the public interest, corrects market failures, and controls the activities of business.…
Continue Reading“I was asked to draw a state highway map that would win the votes of a majority of the members by placing roads [so] they could take them home with them as pork wrested from Portland…. This map ran in front of the farm homes of enough legislators that . . . 37 representatives joined in introduction of the bill…. It took all day . . . to get the map changed so a majority of the Senate would vote for the bill…. My poor map was almost unrecognizable, but it served its purpose.”
– C. C. Chapman, “father of the gasoline tax,” on Oregon’s passage of motor-vehicle fee in 1917, which became a gasoline levy two years later.
History informs the public policy debate. Generally, messy politics contradicts the textbook ‘romantic’ view of government as being a high-brow exercise of selfless leaders weighing the common good to help the rest of us.…
Continue ReadingTo begin, let’s review some basic HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) principals. Heat pumps are basically just air-cooled electric air conditioners that, in addition to taking heat out of a home (in the cooling season) can also be made to run backwards to provide heat to homes (in the heating season). This dual heating and cooling ability is accomplished by the relatively simple reversal of refrigerant flow through an additional control valve.
So-called “geothermal” heat pump are basically just heat pumps that, instead of exchanging heat in the refrigerant with outside air, exchange heat with pipes buried a few feet deep in the yard. In order to minimize the extra amount of refrigerant that would be needed for the vast amount of buried pipe necessary with “geothermal” heat pump systems, intermediate heat exchangers and common “antifreeze solutions” are employed instead.…
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