I think the more relevant point is not that political propaganda/ pork spending is automatically and inherently wasteful, but that the political value thereof i

I think the more relevant point is not that political propaganda/ pork spending is automatically and inherently wasteful, but that the political value thereof is highly subjective and varies greatly based on locale. The US career politicians have arrived at a basic understanding, where loads of widely distributed pork spending is the acceptable cost of doing politics their way. The EU is not quite to the point where naming every local post office and govt building requires (supra-)national political capital and cooperation to accomplish.