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Tom Kirkendall's avatar

I like Matt Ridley's observation along these lines from "How Innovation Works": “Evolution does not tell you anything about whether or not God exists; it simply proves that, if he does exist, he really hates top-down central planning.”

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Ivan Fyodorovich's avatar

Smith's article is a fantastic, unintentional demonstration of the mindset that infects bureaucracy everywhere, not just the government. Doing things is seen as an absolute good, and simultaneously as proof that the organization serves a vital purpose. If the Office for Doing Things didn't exist to Do Things, then the Things simply would not get done. Therefore, this office should not only exist, but receive more funding and personnel to ensure it continues to do things.

It misses both the fact that most experiments fail, and many experimental ideas turn out to be unsound policy, and the fact that plenty of private enterprises and local governments exist to do the same things

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