> But individual, selfish agents do not always act in the public interest. That assumes that "the public interest" is well defined and knowable. It may be in

> But individual, selfish agents do not always act in the public interest. That assumes that "the public interest" is well defined and knowable. It may be in a very small number of cases but, in general, when someone invokes "the public interest", they're trying to get you to go along with what they want, the "public" be damned. And no, it's not the frauds who do the most damage, it's the do-gooders, the true believers, by a large margin. The frauds can be bought off.