America's Mandarin Problem | First Things

America's Mandarin Problem | First Things

What can America learn from the decline and fall of the great powers of the past?

"Hubbard and Kane explain that our present dysfunction is the product of perverse incentives produced by poorly conceived laws and institutions, but their solution is to institute new laws and amendments. But how are laws and amendments supposed to right a ship operated by a political culture already invested in the present day state of affairs? In Hubbard and Kane's recommendations, we have the equivalent of an economist who solves the problem of opening the can by assuming a can opener.

"The story of Mandarin China ought to give us pause. As our institutions, laws, and governing principles such as the separation of powers, continue to fray, a political class with ever greater powers of discretion over the country is emerging in their place. This reflects a broad cultural problem, against which new institutions and laws will prove useless.

"If our present political state is ruled by a particular class, then any solution ought to begin by investigating our political class and the conditions that brought it about. By focusing on institutions, Hubbard and Kane miss that institutions are also a reflection of the character of the people. Instead of economists, we need a Tacitus: someone willing to offer us an account of the facts that quotes quotes and names names. Then, perhaps, we can begin to understand the nature and magnitude of the challenge."