Agree: “Good governance matters more than interest rates.”
Pairs well with a point I think you made elsewhere, that we spend trillions on infrastructure (e.g., in the recent infrastructure bill) without focusing on how to get more out of those dollars.
Side note: I dislike the term “state capacity,” because it conflates the scope of government and its effectiveness. In a context like this, I’d be inclined to use a term like “efficiency” or “cost-effectiveness” (which will be understood by more people anyway).
Agree: “Good governance matters more than interest rates.”
Pairs well with a point I think you made elsewhere, that we spend trillions on infrastructure (e.g., in the recent infrastructure bill) without focusing on how to get more out of those dollars.
Related, the Transit Costs Project (which Alon Levy works on) just released some case studies.
Side note: I dislike the term “state capacity,” because it conflates the scope of government and its effectiveness. In a context like this, I’d be inclined to use a term like “efficiency” or “cost-effectiveness” (which will be understood by more people anyway).
+1 to the term “state capacity,” I ultimately understood what you meant, but it took a close reading.
Also, great article.