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**JonnTEN** · 10-08-2010, 08:41 AM

And if this is the case, why hasn't government gotten smaller over time?

Because when we choose governments, by far the largest component of that choice has to do with how the government will directly affect OTHER PEOPLE.

If I vote for somebody who is against immigration, my vote is about how the government will interact with millions of people I've never met in the hope that it has some positive effect on myself and others.

This is PRECISELY NOT the situation than is faced by somebody who is presented with a series of unidimensional variables (prices!) and who attempts to maximize his own utility given those prices.

10-08-2010, 08:41 AM	#31
JonnTEN Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 472 Senior Member	And if this is the case, why hasn't government gotten smaller over time? Because when we choose governments, by far the largest component of that choice has to do with how the government will directly affect OTHER PEOPLE. If I vote for somebody who is against immigration, my vote is about how the government will interact with millions of people I've never met in the hope that it has some positive effect on myself and others. This is PRECISELY NOT the situation than is faced by somebody who is presented with a series of unidimensional variables (prices!) and who attempts to maximize his own utility given those prices.
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