Governomics: Can we afford small government?

Are taxes and regulation bad for the economy? How else are we going to get our mail, care for our elderly families, educate our children? Who will decide on the best action on climate change?

People have many good reasons to want a decent public education system, to want a well-funded health system, and to live in a society where there is less disparity between the rich and the poor. What is not always clear is that, almost without exception, public sector involvement makes sound economics.

Governments rarely get good press, partly because their statutory accountability, partly because commercial interests stand to gain from a retreat of government and partly because governments have to do the hard jobs that the private sector doesn’t want to do.

Governomics shows that by standing up for government, you are standing up for good government, efficient and responsive to our society’s needs. It’s a book for people who are fed up with dumbed-down debates on important public issues.