>>On a tangent, I personally feel that bottom-up design has been an almost complete failure I don't see the evidence supporting that assertion. The US has by a

>>On a tangent, I personally feel that bottom-up design has been an almost complete failure I don't see the evidence supporting that assertion. The US has by and large moved to a top-down design since the 1950s: Creation of Medicare Creation of OSHA Creation of EPA Occupational licensing rising from 5% of jobs, in 1950, to 29% today. The Code of Federal Regulations massively expanding since the 1950s: https://www.mercatus.org/video/visualizing-growth-federal-regulation-1950 https://www.mercatus.org/video/visualizing-growth-federal-re... Govermment spending as a percentage of GDP increasing substantially since the 1950s. The financial surveillance state growing rapidly in scope, with OFAC, FinCEN - only created in 1990 - and other financial crime/surveillance agencies becoming far more substantial in their impact on banking and finance. Healthcare regulations have become significantly more burdensome since the 1950s: https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/practice-management/expert-forum-rise-and-rise-healthcare-administrator https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/practice-manageme... Public sector unions have also become much more powerful since the 1950s, with deleterious effects. In teaching: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/111/3/671/1839935 https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/111/3/671/1839935 In policing: https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_7718.html https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_7718.html The bright spots in the economy, in terms of providing more value for less cost to the consumer, are all bottom up, whether it's the internet and digital industries, consumer electronics, or the food industry. These are heavily dominated by the private sector and relatively unhampered by government regulation, and consequently, very competitive.