In a system with a policy range of only a year ahead or so - or up to the next election, a national investment bank should be one of the ways to think long-term about the future. Education is another.
A national investment bank should not be politically directed, though oversight is needed. All the functions and processes of the bank should be transparent. The bank is owned 100% by the people. The policy and project leadership should contain academics from different disciplines, business figures, finance professionals, as well as respected citizens in the arts, for instance. They would not be political appointments, though I don't know how that could work. You can't be me, I'm taken
That's a difficulty.
It is easier in Finland that has similar existing institutions. The top person is usually a political appointee who is no longer active in politics - for instance a former PM. (being unicameral, there is no place to shuffle off the ex-PMs to.
Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation), for instance, has an oversight board made up more or less as I described earlier. Then there is strategic management, research management etc. It is cumbersome in some ways, but ensures that ideologies have less influence. Salaries are academic standard for the levels. Some business members at higher level are seconded by their companies.
But it is easier in Finland to get the best people because a) the differential in upper and lowers salaries is much narrower than in the US and b) a job with such an institution gives a valuable overview.
There is a certain amount of revolving door going on, but it is the sort of move that goes from macro to micro - ie a researcher or enabler for some new technology might leave the funding institution to join a project as a start-up, in order to guide it. As far as I know, this is actually encouraged. It's called seeding ideas and know-how. You can't be me, I'm taken
(being unicameral, there is no place to shuffle off the ex-PMs to)
Bruxelles? ;-P
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
And let's make sure that it is not allowed to have a trading P&L on its own funds. Better, no trading P&L at all. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
Long term investment also needs to be closely related to education policies at all levels. Not to train people in specific jobs that might not be there when they graduate - but in providing opportunities in all the disciplines. You can't be me, I'm taken
The strategy needs a revamp, but it has been extremely successful in the past - arguably the greatest single factor in the Celtic Tiger success. Vote McCain for war without gain
