The benefits of relocating government branches
By James Hsu 許正餘

It has recently been suggested that certain branches of government should be moved from Taipei. The idea was put forward by Democratic Progressive Party mayors after the nation elected its first female president and relegated the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to the opposition.

Opponents say there might not be enough money to carry out such a plan and have expressed doubts over the potential benefits.

Proponents say that Taipei is located on numerous fault lines, close to a nuclear power plant and is too crowded and expensive; adding that the city’s traffic congestion and air quality constantly deteriorates, and the government offices intertwined with corporate headquarters result in plutocracy rather than democracy.

Following the triumph of Taiwan’s “democracy 2.0,” the public wishes to move forward with the revolution.

Twenty-first century capitalism has had many unwanted effects, among them is the M-shaped wealth distribution and the disappearing middle class. While capitalism can be credited as the champion of wealth creation, the same cannot be said about its ability to distribute wealth equally. It has been criticized for making rich people richer and poor people poorer.

Political corruption makes matters worse. The argument that supply-side economics would result in the trickling down of wealth to underprivileged people has failed to deliver on that promise, but on the contrary, made wealth disparity even worse.

The best economic model for attaining prosperity is not relying on the wealthiest top 10 percent or 20 percent, but on the innovation, hard work, and ingenuity of common people from every corner of society.

This was the key to Taiwan’s economic miracle in the 20th century.

In the US, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill, paved the way for a strong middle class and better wealth distribution.

Fair distribution of wealth can boost wealth creation, reduce the living expenses of poor people, ease their burden on society and provide economic and political stability.

Applying the same principle to regional disparity in wealth distribution, it is understood that moving the headquarters of certain government branches — especially the legislature and the judiciary — to central and southern cities would evenly distribute political influence and economic prosperity across the nation.

A centralized government, as a rule, would incur higher costs of operation, maintenance and expansion.

Trading the expensive government real estate in Taipei for inexpensive rural plots would allow the government to afford the construction of new and modern offices and disperse the concentrated crowd in a more comfortable setting to achieve a higher quality of service. The high speed rail as well as Internet connectivity, which allows video conferences, e-mails, online services and instant messages, would minimize the impact of distance between government branches.

The mingling of government personnel working in close proximity of each other has always been of great concern for advanced democracies. To keep the government clean, humble and honest, many states have moved government branches away from each other and from financial centers, bringing them closer to the public.

When Taiwan is rebooted to “democracy 2.0,” the operation manual needs be upgraded to a decentralized government both geographically and economically.

【轉載自 台北時報 （Taipei Times）】