RECESSION IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, BUT BOOM TIMES IN D.C. “The cost of course goes beyond the price tag of the bailout. All of the money spent lobbying for a cut of the largess is also money sent to Washington that could have been spent actually creating wealth. The article also points to a looming brain drain, as the country’s best and brightest no longer fan out across the country to innovate and thrive in the private sector, they’re going where the money is. Which means they’re converging on D.C. for lucrative jobs with government contractors. . . . The problem of course is that all of that money and talent isn’t being harnessed to produce goods and services consumers actually want. It’s being used to fulfill the wish lists of the politicians who hand out the checks.” To some, of course, that’s not a bug, but a feature.