Thanks to Ellis Krauss for his comments regarding my recent posting. I'd like to
elaborate on the issue of the applicability of rational choice to groups and/or
individuals.

Economic rationality has been researched at length and serves as a good starting
point. I think most agree and experiments have shown that many individuals don't
act rationally in certain economic situations. We also know, however, that
savings rates go up given economic incentives such as a 401K or IRA plan, from
which one can conclude that there is at least some rationality in the aggregate.

This conclusion of aggregate rationality won't help very much to explain or
predict the behavior of a random individual, but consider a group of individuals
who are selected by a group of investors for their ability to make intelligent
economic decisions. If we conducted an experiment with the Warren Buffet's and
George Soros's of the world, I suspect they would score very high on any test of
economic rationality.

Similarly, Diet members and the like are selected by voters, and Prime Ministers
and committee chairs are chosen by Diet members. At this level, we're no longer
dealing with random individuals, but with those who have been selected for their
political skills (i.e. a demonstrated ability raise campaign funds, target
government resources at select constituencies, win votes, etc.). I suspect that
political individuals at this level, with Ozawa and Hashimoto standing in for
Buffet and Soros, will have a strong tendency to act politically rational, which
is why I give strong credence to the power of rat choice theory to help us
understand what they do.

Were I still in Academia I could dedicate myself to testing this conclusion, but
for now, I rely on you all for your input. I look forward to hearing more.