In the public domain, we talk a lot about politics. And boy, are we talking a lot about politics in 2024…
We spend less time talking about policy.
What makes good policy?
In my opinion, good policy incentives a targeted group of people to make specific decisions that benefit society broadly.
Crafting good policy is not easy.
Even good policy can’t meet everyone’s needs. However, policy done well we can influence behaviors.
Take business investment tax policy.
Economic growth is good for society. Governments incentivize businesses to invest by not taxing business expenses.
The impact? Businesses can hire employees. Invest in new technology and R&D. Help grow the economy. Some business won’t pay corporate tax. Others will send gains to shareholders. All impacts of the same policy.
Looks at school lunches. We want kids to come to school to learn. Providing free breakfast and lunch can help. Not only do kids show up for school well-fed, but it incentivizes parents and kids to get to school every day.
Policy is impossible to get completely right. The more we can focus on incentivizing the activity we want to see happen for specific group of people, the higher order policy we’ll see.
I think of voting like I think of early stage investing. And policy is actually the last thing I consider.
I first vote for the person. Do they have a learning mindset? Do they have experience? Can they hire and inspire the best people to work for them?
I then vote for their general vision for the country. Much like picking a market, worldviews are unlikely to change, especially within a four year presidency. They can be indicative of how a person might react to a given situation.
Then, I vote based on policy positions. Policy positions are like a product. They are often easiest to change, dependent on market conditions, and require iteration. President’s only have so much control over the policies they can enact. The first 100 days are often touted as the best time for new Presidents to bring about new policies. The rest of the Presidency feels rather like they are at the mercy of global conditions (and Congress!).
Kind of like a startup founder :)