In Romania, Unquestioned Rule by “Experts” is Alive and Well

On the eve of new parliamentary elections, Romania seems to be locked into a permanent state of economic illiteracy, and many continue to support interventionism as a means to improving the standard of living in Romania. The public continues to show little affinity for a laissez-faire approach to markets.
Unfortunately, as Ludwig von Mises repeatedly pointed out, ideologies and political regimes in general, in order to take political shape, must necessarily receive the support of the public – the public is either well equipped or not to understand to whom it gives support and power. Otherwise, no ruler could actually rule.
In the current political environment in Romania, the public is supporting a new class of technocrats which took executive office last year in November. The political sea change occurred after a disastrous night-club fire, in which 64 people died in Bucharest. The fire was blamed on a corrupt government unwilling to enforce regulations on businesses.

This post was published at Ludwig von Mises Institute on November 25, 2016.