One Response to “Performance Bonuses for Politicians”

1. Scott Kirk December 29th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

   How about the idea of using home values relative to other jurisdictions as a way of measuring the effectiveness of our elected officials. Just as in the world of business, where competition amongst different firms drives innovation and better products for consumers, why not utilize this same mechanism to make our communities better “products”.

   By linking political pay packages to home prices, you ensure that their decisions are focused singularly on that goal. If home prices go up faster in your community than in others, your real wealth also goes up. If you choose to take advantage of this increase in you home, you can sell at a profit, move to a neighboring community and buy a bigger home.

   After a while, the people who live in communities that pay their elected officials generous bonuses, should see their wealth rise much faster than those people who do not.

   Even if people feel no desire to move from their hometown, relative property values still reflect the relative attractiveness of one community over another. As it stands today, politicians base their decisions on what they think will get them reelected, rather than what really matters, which is increasing the quality of life in our communities. High property values may not perfectly reflect that, but it does indicate the popularity of one community over another. Given that most human beings are rational creatures, the communities that create the most value for residents will see the demand for their product increase the most over time.