AS A LIFELONG Boston Red Sox fan, I couldn’t be happier to deliver to you the following analogy between the now vanquished New York Yankees and the failures of big government policy. It’s true: The parallels prove that a Leviathan state and attitude, without regard for individuality and incentive, produce failure.
* Like big government (run by the decision makers in Congress), the Yankees think that indiscriminately throwing lots of money at a problem solves it. For four years now, New York has missed out on a World Series championship, which owner George Steinbrenner believes is his, and his fans’, birthright. It’s a serious problem for them (illustrating another parallel, where big government often sees a problem where there is none). After each year’s failure The Boss issues a new set of directives, backed up by his wallet, to address the team’s shortcomings. Result: the largest payroll in history, reported to be between $180 million and $194 million this year. Add on the luxury tax he must pay because of Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing system, and Steinbrenner had to ante up about $265 million this season.
* Like big government (and Congress), the Yankees build up their own power for power’s sake. Because they have all the star players they want, the Yankees always stay good enough to win, keep everybody’s attention. But it’s a façade for a failed policy. They hit lots of home runs, which draws fans to the stadium–and viewers to their YES Network–the same way big government draws those who are “left behind” to their ineffective programs. They both hire all the people they want, regardless of need or efficiency. And they have both been getting a poor return on their investment.
* Like big government, the Yankees have started a program that is quickly becoming bloated. What an example of excess: In the late 1990s, the Yankees were a model team of role players who often performed beyond their capabilities, responded well to pressure, and were flexible. Now their philosophy has led them to replace many of those parts with immobile, past-their-prime stars: take Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, and Kevin Brown, for example. Like big government, the Yankees carry a bunch of uninspired bureaucrats on the payroll who have no real incentive for performance.
* Like big government, the Yankees don’t believe in zero-based budgeting, but instead in building on the prior year’s baseline. Other teams in baseball (see the Moneyball Oakland A’s and last year’s Florida Marlins) have enjoyed success while actually cutting payroll, which forced them to make decisions about how to maximize their investments in their programs, keeping them lean and efficient. The Yankees and big government maintain a policy of simply adding on when the previous resources aren’t getting results.
* Like big government, the Yankees’ payroll will be hard to get rid of or cut back. Look at these contracts: Giambi, 7 years for $120 million; Brown, one more year for $15 million; Sheffield, 3 years for $39 million; Derek Jeter, 10 years for $189 million; Bernie Williams, one more year for $12 million; Javier Vazquez, 4 years for $45 million; Jorge Posada, 5 years for $51 million; Mariano Rivera, 4 years for $40 million; and the beast, Alex Rodriguez, 10 years for $252 million. Many of these stars are underperforming or worse–losing their skills–and no other team will want to take their contracts. Like big government, the Yankees are paralyzed. (And by the way, the Yankees’ leaderships apparently doesn’t believe much in term limits, either.)
* Like big government, the Yankees have fostered a belief that their constituents should trust in them, their riches, and their power. The Red Sox (their fans, really), on the other hand, have now proven that faith and the power of prayer–combined with individuality and incentive–ultimately pay off.
Paul Chesser, who grew up in Rhode Island, is associate editor of Carolina Journal, a publication of the John Locke Foundation.
