Munder: Sometimes there's an illogical, what we might call an analytical argument which might be corporate America has the wrong time preference. We need a longer term perspective. It's not going to come from capitalists but politicians or policymakers who will not be constrained by the stock market's insistence on quarterly profits. Munder: The time horizon is certainly an important one. And another... Oh, the environment is climate change. Now, you could say that's time horizon also; But it is different.
Economist and political scientist Michael Munger of Duke University talks about industrial policy with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Munger argues that in a democracy, the default outcome for industrial policy is crony capitalism--attempts to improve on that outcome either by appointing experts or eliminating cronyism are going to fail for political reasons. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the reliability of Munger's claim and what options are left for dissatisfied reformers.