Niall Ferguson The Great Degeneration.pdf _hot_ 【VALIDATED – BUNDLE】

Ferguson rejects simple narratives of external shock (e.g., the financial crisis) or moral decline. Instead, he proposes two deep causes:

The Decay of the West: An Analysis of Niall Ferguson’s Institutional Diagnosis in The Great Degeneration Niall Ferguson The Great Degeneration.pdf

Ferguson argues that democratic institutions have shifted from a model of representation and accountability to one of bureaucratic autonomy and debt-financed clientelism. He notes the explosion of “unfunded mandates” (pensions and healthcare) that transfer wealth from the unborn to the living elderly. The core problem is institutional atrophy : political parties have weakened, voter turnout has declined (or become polarized), and the state has become a vehicle for rent-seeking rather than public good. He cites the failure of the U.S. Congress to pass timely budgets as a symptom of this paralysis. Ferguson rejects simple narratives of external shock (e