> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy Oh, that page is darkly funny itself. ‘[The Lisbon Strategy’s] a

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy Oh, that page is darkly funny itself. ‘[The Lisbon Strategy’s] aim was to make the EU “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion,” by 2010.’ Yeah, that didn’t happen. ‘Spain's prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero pointed out that the non-binding character of the Lisbon Strategy contributed to the failure.’ Typical bureaucratic response: freedom is the problem. There is definitely a role for government in fostering innovation and productivity, but it is very much a secondary role. Providing a predictable, stable, safe environment, and using government funds for things that the government actually needs to use seems to have worked for the U.S. for a long time, even before the two world wars.