[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Alex Tabarrok) writes: >The public good story is also inconsistent with public opinion polls >which show that the public always think the foreign aid budget is too >*large*. If the public good story were true people would be clamoring >for collective action.
That assumes that the public thinks that foreign aid amounts to charity towards people who deserve it, as opposed to, say, aid to despots who might otherwise be overthrown. Is there much evidence that the public actually thinks that? I suspect the public has enough sense to at least have doubts. I suspect the best way to reject the public good story is simply to ask people whether they think they shouldn't be charitable if others aren't being charitable. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Peter McCluskey | "To announce that there must be no criticism of http://www.rahul.net/pcm | the President, or that we are to stand by the | President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic | and servile, but morally treasonable to the | American public." - Theodore Roosevelt
