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Right, but transit and police are somewhat specific examples of where this doesn’t work. There are other sectors like residential housing where the private sector seems perfectly fit to satisfy demand if we could just let them do it.

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yeah for housing all that needs to happen is government to allow people to do what they want with their own property, and the market will build all the housing people desire.

But there will definitely be room for government in say getting transmission lines built (eminent domain almost certainly needed)

Or funding basic R&D

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Apr 5Edited

I think that we may have overfunded R&D. The replication crisis in the social sciences may indicate there are more people chasing grants than are capable of doing quality science.

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Are they not capable, or does the incentive structure encourage something else

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8dEdited

Yes.

Not everyone can play in the NBA. I suspect that the intelligence and the talents to do creative work in the sciences are equally rare. Add the fact that the social sciences should be _more difficult_ than the physical sciences.

Then there are the various gatekeepers.

I wish Substack would move that button.

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