ABSTRACT

At the most general level at least five fundamental, long-term forces influence policy decisions. These are (1) the reigning values of ideologies of the society, (2) the dominant institutional arrangements, public and private, (3) the level of educational attainment of the society and therefore the ability of the public to understand many of the issues, (4) the impacts of technological change that reallocate property rights and both create opportunities and impose costs on various groups in society, and finally (5) the heavy hand of the past arising out of prior policy decisions.