George F. Will
1/20/2011

The political class in America has come to be defined by its hubris and Larry Summers exemplified such conceit in his departing speech wherein he warned of profound government demoralization in the face of inadequate funding. Summers should concern himself with the reverse scenario: government recklessly expanding its scope and squandering its limited resources, says Will. Such a scenario is likely to worsen due to the slow or non-existent increase of productivity in “labor-intensive service industries” (Princeton economics professor emeritus William J. Baumol) and the migration of such services to the public sector (senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan). Because those industries relegated to the public sector tend toward stagnation, the government should be cautious about any expansion of its responsibilities.

Will is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post and approximately 400 other newspapers, writing about foreign and domestic politics and policy.

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