i mostly agree with friedman, but there are an awful lot of negative externalities out there.
e.g. a farmer grows a field of barley and puts pesticides on his crop to reduce infestation and increase his yield. this is a good thing for humans who get plentiful amounts of food at reasonable prices. but at the same time, the pesticide runs off into the river and poisons ecosystems downstream.
debits and credits. the farmer is irritated because he wants to use pesticides without anyone watching over his shoulder. but the fisherman downstream is happy because there are fish in the river. only thing is, he doesn't know the reason why.
so you hear a good deal from the farmer and not much from the fisherman.
government quietly gets on with its job and with no one noticing the value it provides.
i am not saying government is always being wonderful. sometimes, it is a pain in the backside. but we need it all the same.
as sensible folks say, we want the smartest government we can get and we constantly need to think how we can get it.
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