What's Your Vote Worth?
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East|1 May, 2018

Economist Dambisa Moyo argues that to save liberal democracy, it’s time to kill its core principle: One vote for one person.

Peter Coy
What's Your Vote Worth?

It’s hard sometimes not to despair for the future of democracies. Voters can be tribal and poorly informed. Last year the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed 1,013 U.S. adults and found that only a quarter could name all three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial). A third couldn’t name any.

Dambisa Moyo has had that same sinking feeling. But unlike you, she wrote a book about it. In Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth—and How to Fix It, she argues that the public is too shortsighted to choose economic policies that will produce long-term prosperity. “Political myopia is the central obstacle on the path of growth in advanced economies,” she writes.

Readers are likely to find themselves nodding along until page 198, which is where Edge of Chaos gets seriously edgy. At the end of a list of fixes, she calls for a system of “weighted voting,” in which a ballot counts more or less depending on a voter’s qualifications. Weight would be determined by a civics test or maybe by one’s profession or education.

Esta historia es de la edición 1 May, 2018 de Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición 1 May, 2018 de Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK MIDDLE EASTVer todo
Golfing With The Enemy
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Golfing With The Enemy

Did Donald Trump's executives violate the Cuban embargo?

time-read
10+ minutos  |
August 16, 2016
Super-Rich Syrians Wait for War's End
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Super-Rich Syrians Wait for War's End

Actor, author, playwright. Gill Pringle tries her hand at unravelling the mystery behind this enigmatic multi-hyphenate

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July 01, 2016
Pam Codispoti
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Pam Codispoti

The mastermind behind the industry-shaping Chase Sapphire Reserve Card sets her sights on banking

time-read
2 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
This Time It's The Economy
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

This Time It's The Economy

President Rouhani’s budget sets offprotests from people angry about unemployment and inflation

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
Saudi Prince Counts On Support Of Citizens
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Saudi Prince Counts On Support Of Citizens

State-worker salary increases appeal to the people, but policy may throw the budget off track

time-read
3 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
Stalin's Legacy Is Choking The Ukrainian Economy
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Stalin's Legacy Is Choking The Ukrainian Economy

The government has resisted pressure to lift a ban on land sales, despite pressure from the IMF and investors

time-read
4 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
Catastrophe Bonds Survive A Stormy Year
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Catastrophe Bonds Survive A Stormy Year

The turbulence of 2017 couldn’t destroy a market for betting against disasters

time-read
3 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
Riding The West Bank's Credit Boom
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

Riding The West Bank's Credit Boom

Increased consumer lending is creating a bubble in the West Bank

time-read
3 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
You'd Be Crazy To Buy Pizza With Bitcoin
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

You'd Be Crazy To Buy Pizza With Bitcoin

Speculative fervour makes the cryptocurrency clumsy for commerce

time-read
3 minutos  |
January 16, 2018
What If The President Loses His Party?
Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East

What If The President Loses His Party?

Trump has to figure out a way to work with Republicans in Congress, or the global economy may be at stake

time-read
6 minutos  |
August 16, 2017