CHICAGO – Democratic governments are not incentivized to take decisions that have short-term costs but produce long-term gains, the typical pattern for any investment. Indeed, in order to make such investments, democracies require either brave leadership or an electorate that understands the costs of postponing hard choices.
发自芝加哥——典型的投资手法讲究先在短期内支付一定成本，然后获取长期收益，但民主国家的政府往往都缺乏制定类似决策的动机。倘若要在民主制度下实施这类投资行为的话，要么需要一位勇气可嘉的领导人，要么要求选民能明白回避这类痛苦决策所导致的弊端。