+1 this is my point, you can frequently implement multiple overlapping policies whose combined effect is better than an individual policy. Order doesn't matter.

+1 this is my point, you can frequently implement multiple overlapping policies whose combined effect is better than an individual policy. Order doesn't matter. When you say "price controls don't work" you lack imagination for the space of possible policy problems and solutions. Sometimes price controls will be a useful part of a policy solution and likely more often than some randos on the internet can think of off the top of their heads. In general I would not bet on the idea that "mechanism X is shit because it's not the free market." Our societies have implemented many engineered economic mechanisms, some of which are easy scapegoats because they fail, but many of which are overlooked because they work quietly in the background.