Irrationalism all over

Some say that roots of current recession have to do with the fact that banks and other financial institutions acted against their own self-interest. That definetely seems to be the case. Either knowingly (or) unknowingly (or) yieding to the pressure of stockholders to provide quick short-term returns, companies did behave irrationally against their own interest.

However, when Govt institutions have been proven to be corrupt over and over again, people still look up to the Govt and are even willing to give them more money to solve their problems. Isn't that irrational? When Govt keeps increasing their expenses, which is the root cause of deficits, people still are willing to give them more money over and over again. It is in people's best interest to ask Govt (no matter who is in power) to cut down costs instead of asking them to balance the budget. It's not a question of belief in individual or collective responsibility. It's a question of accountability and fiscal discipline. People are willing to pour their hard earned money over and over again in something that costs them more and more.

Yes, I agree. Sometimes, people behave irrationally.

Fundamental attribution error in judging capitalism/socialism

History has proven over and over that free markets are more efficient than centrally planned economies. However, over and over again, people continue to attribute United States' success in 20th century to second world war, immigration, having a head start, size, cultural aspects and few other factors. As everyone knows, US economy has grown almost every year and there should be something fundamentally different about its economy.

Take North Korea and South Korea - Same people, same culture, same start at second world war. One country is dying of hunger, while the other is one of the world's wealthiest. East Germany and West Germany - Per capita of West Germany was much higher than the East when the wall came down. and so on...

The affluent countries are either capitalist (or) had very rich natural resources like oil. What more proof do the people need? Wake up and stop looking to Govt for solutions. Wake up and take a pledge that you wont be fooled by liberals who promise to make you rich (or) the country better.

People tend to attribute successes of other people to fundamental attributions. That's exactly what's happening here. People tend to believe that US was either lucky to get rich (or) the Govt had something to do it. Wake up fellows...Economic forces are more powerful than the political forces. US Govt. had very little to do with success of the economy. It's the capitalist market that's doing the magic.