Simple Leadership

Why is it that our leaders complicate everything to the point where it is no longer manageable. Maybe it's politics, selfishness, greed, or ignorance - who knows. But usually, the solution is so simple and takes nothing more than some leadership and direction. T. Boone Pickens, and his strategy to partially solve our energy dependency issue, is a prime example. I'm sure it is far from perfect, but the fact that it can so easily be explained illustrates how sensible it just may be. Why does our government not even have a plan, something that can be explained to the American people in this fashion?

And from an economic perspective, now would be the time to make this type of investment, assuming a few simple things were in place. First, you need to generate budget surpluses during economic booms so you can spend this surplus responsibly during the busts and take advantage of cheaper labor, keep people employed in value added work. Second, you need to make a good investment decision based on a solid plan, such as the Picken's plan, where resources are invested in public projects that have long-term real economic value benefit. Instead, our government throws bad money after bad money, giving it to incompetently run financial institutions, car companies that can't compete internationally, and homebuyers who have no business buying the homes they bought. This will be the economic calamity of our times. A complete inability by our leaders to manage an economy through a cycle. Maybe, in the end, these times will serve as a lesson, but unfortunately, I'm afraid it won't, just like the Great Depression didn't teach us anything.