tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post195194834797156923..comments2024-03-27T03:00:27.024-04:00Comments on Facts & other stubborn things: Ideas as Catechismic DevicesEvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12259004160963531720noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-90145419364039726452013-03-31T10:05:07.304-04:002013-03-31T10:05:07.304-04:00Dan,
You write, "Elinor Ostrom shows you don...Dan,<br /><br />You write, "Elinor Ostrom shows you don't need government for that stuff."<br /><br />Of course she did no such thing.<br /><br />Go on Amazon and buy a copy of Stuart Banner's Who Owns the Sky, which tells the story of how the biggest commons, The Sky, came to be owned by the US Gov't. Ms. Ostrom turned some efficiency studies into "wisdom" because it suited the bias of some. Had she looked that the small police and fire dept's in STL over time, for example, she would have found that they turned out not to be so popular once the unions gained control over the small local political machinery and raised wages above those paid in NY and Chicago.<br /><br />And, of course, everything about local gov't in CA disproves every word she ever wrote.<br /><br />As it turns out, what is critical is the 4th Estate. The sine qua non is not police dept size, it is whether a stupid decision by a police officer or a governing board will make the 6 o'clock news.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07904132869021579763noreply@blogger.com