Economic Planning versus Democracy

The only plus to the stimulus package, that I can see, is that it has caused the careful, but wise, economist Mario Rizzo to become a prolific writer. Here, he writes about the tension between central direction of economic resources and democracy.

As part of his observatons, this can not be ignored:

...the casual dismissal of the “niceties” of democratic deliberation is blind to something really important. Emergency large-scale government direction of resources produces demands for a leader – an executive with plenary powers in fact (if not in law). It has been the excuse for extreme centralization of power in many contexts over history. Carl Bernstein and others call it “leadership.” Ludwig von Mises and many others called it the Furhrer Principle (Führerprinzip).