More government, more favoritism

Tensions are building that a return to a bigger city government and more spending is in the near future.  There is talk of expantion of urban renewal and a resurrected streetcar (it is still on Metro's wish list as a project on hold).  While these are still in the rumor stages, the size and scope of the North Anchor Blocks development will be an indicator of what might be coming: how much, how big?  And most of all, who will benefit from government spending?  Public money = crony capitalism.   

Americans Not Enjoying Era of Big Government
Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2014  
By James Freeman 

After historic spending surge, most say the system is stacked against them

According to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, a full 56% of Americans agree with this statement: "The economic and political systems in the country are stacked against people 
like me." This disillusionment index has been 
rising for more than a decade and coincides with an explosion in 
the size of the federal government.

As John Cochrane suggests in our pages today, less government means people can get rich by starting companies and developing new products; more government enables people to get rich through 
political favoritism. In the era of the Beltway boom, no wonder so many people feel the deck is stacked against them.