Okay, but I don’t really understand the incentives here. Why is bad policy attractive to anyone? Is it all NIMBY-ism or are you pointing to other drivers also?
Lots of policies are good for a small number of people but bad for most. Legalizing cigarrette advertising would be great for tobacco farms. In an iterated game they stop caring about who they hurt. In a one-time game they won’t notice the damage.
Activists enter politics to signal virtue, to bond with eachother, to look like protectors of the community. Most do not know what a public good is. Therefore, they have few incentives to understand unintended consequences of their actions.
Finally, my favorite quote from Edmund Burke (inventor of the political party)
There are but very few, who are capable of comparing and digesting what passes before their eyes at different times and occasions, so as to form the whole into a distinct system. But in books every thing is settled for them, without the exertion of any considerable diligence or sagacity. For which reason men are wise with but little reflexion, and good with little denial, in the business of all times except their own.
Bad policy as a luxury good.
Okay, but I don’t really understand the incentives here. Why is bad policy attractive to anyone? Is it all NIMBY-ism or are you pointing to other drivers also?
Three easy reasons:
Lots of policies are good for a small number of people but bad for most. Legalizing cigarrette advertising would be great for tobacco farms. In an iterated game they stop caring about who they hurt. In a one-time game they won’t notice the damage.
Activists enter politics to signal virtue, to bond with eachother, to look like protectors of the community. Most do not know what a public good is. Therefore, they have few incentives to understand unintended consequences of their actions.
Actually identifying good policies is really hard. This summary of RCT’s found that of 150, just 42 had positive results. That means 108 of the charities were indistinguishable from no effect. So lots of plausible expert-designed interventions just didn’t work (but do found a charity anyway if you can! It’s worth it in expectation honest!). https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/34658/How-to-Improve-Education-Outcomes-Most-Efficiently-A-Comparison-of-150-Interventions-Using-the-New-Learning-Adjusted-Years-of-Schooling-Metric.pdf?sequence=1
Finally, my favorite quote from Edmund Burke (inventor of the political party)
Happy to chat about this elsewhere (too many politics tentacles)