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But then you shouldn’t extrapolate your local library spending well any more than you don’t want GP extrapolating that his local library spends poorly. What ma

But then you shouldn’t extrapolate your local library spending well any more than you don’t want GP extrapolating that his local library spends poorly. What makes you think all libraries are run as well as yours? It seems the question is “does government do well, in general, at managing money?” And having an example of your local library isn’t very helpful for predicting whether government is good or bad. I don’t think the sentiment is “every single government in existence is horrible at managing money” and more so “in general, government is inefficient at management so is not a good investment for optimal social benefit.”

afavour 3y ago
> What makes you think all libraries are run as well as yours? I feel like I’m going crazy, I’ve said two times that I don’t think we should be talking in universalities. Statement #1: my local library is great and is an effective use of public funds Statement #2: my local library is awful and a waste of public money Both of these statements can be true and neither contradicts the other. There is no need to come to some universal conclusion here. The broader point is that you often see this approach taken when talking about public spending: one example of waste somehow invalidates the whole concept. Yet you never see someone say “invest in a private company? Did you not see what happened with Enron?!”