Why has Westminster politics become so dumb?

Recently Chris Dillow wrote about how stupid Westminster politics (which is most of UK politics) has become. I’m always wary when oldies like Chris and myself say things are much worse than they used to be, but he is hardly alone in making this complaint. I have read many people bemoaning the fact that politicians seem unable nowadays to present bad news to voters (e.g. Trump’s Iran war will make us worse off whatever the government does) or to discuss policy trade-offs (e.g. cutting immigration will require higher taxes). Discussion of policy has been replaced by a seemingly endless game of musical chairs in and around Downing Street. However what really convinced me he was right was that he referenced a paper I wrote some time ago. It was about what I call the knowledge transmission mechanism between academics and policymakers, and how it had failed when the world outside China turned to fiscal austerity in 2010. It convinced me because I would never write that kind of paper today.…