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Nino Dundua

Writer/Blogger, Ideas on Europe

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How real is the influence of politics on the economy?

Political scientist Harold Lasswell defined politics as the process of deciding who gets what, when and how. Economics is the study of how societies allocate scarce resources, deciding what to produce, how and for whom. The similarity of these definitions demonstrates a relationship between politics and economics, as both represent methods by which societies make decisions. But how do you think which one of them is affecting the formulation of another, politics drive economics or on the contrary

Topics: economy
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  • Autumn Frisco 10+

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    Jul 14 2011: Politics and policy create many ropes and hurdles for us to get past for growth and progress.

  • richard moody jr 10+

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    Jul 12 2011: In the US the rules of the game are determined by those with the biggest wallet---they have the politicians write the rules for them. The economic rules are bought and paid for by lobbyists; when they tell Congressman to jump, they say, "How high?"

    The US has a "free market" system; somehow it isn't free when successful risks are rewarded handsomely and failure is an excellent option. This is aided and abetted by a Congress that Mark Twain said, "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself---." "There is no native criminal class except Congress."

    We have a "corpocracy" that is the province of the rich. The "free market" system is an illusion.
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    Ivaylo Sotirov

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    TED Translator
    Jul 11 2011: Depends on the country.
    Free market economies are based on an economic practice where the government has minimal influence and the free market balances itself out.
    Controlled markets in which the state directly governs goods, services and labor.

    In both cases they are symbiotic but one has more sway over the other.
    In the free market economy corporations and labor leagues potentially have more influence on directing the administration while in a controlled market they would have much less.

    But ultimately it’s in the hand of the government to create and decide the laws by which those markets would operate by. And it is the government that decides what type of economy you’ll have.
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    Krisztián Pintér 200+

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    TED Translator
    Jul 11 2011: economics describe the rules of the game. politics play by these rules.

    as a metaphor, laws of mechanics describe how masses move and behave when forces are exerted upon them. physicists try to discover those rules, and give a formal model of the world. engineers use these rules and models to design machines and buildings.

    in short, economists tell what can we do. politicians choose what we actually do.

    however, the above is the idealized situation. in reality economists are very weak at modeling the market and making predictions. and politicians often refuse to follow the advice of economists, or choose from the different expert opinions to their likings.
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    Salim Solaiman 50+

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    Jul 11 2011: just look in to the history of any war so far happened it will be very clear. Moreover whatever may be the definition of economics resource allocation is done by politicians not the economist. Guess that gives the answer.
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