Prof. Antony Davies: Why Government Fails, Explained

Governments don’t work the way most people think they do. Public choice theory explores why government fails through how voters, politicians, and bureaucrats actually make decisions. Professor Antony Davies explains.

Public choice economics is a field in economics in which we take what we understand about how humans behave, which is normally applied to humans in the private sector, and we apply this knowledge to humans in the public sector. What emerges is an interesting dichotomy between how we imagine government works and how it actually works.

TRANSCRIPT:

LEARN LIBERTY:

[stroys]

I worked for the state government for 30 years. Private sector for 8 years. This lecture is spot on.

[paulaswam]

randomly found this guy in suggestions and I was mesmerized by his lectures. 30 minutes felt like 5, he's amazing at lectures.

[lachlangro]

When I first started work at age 20, I noticed the attitude of public servants first-hand and couldn't help but conclude that if these guys had competition, they would be history. Also if I had to tell my phone company what calls I have made during the financial year and from where and to where and to whom and for how many minutes and on what device and I had to figure out how much money I owed them and then go to an accountant to get it all checked and verified and face a fine if I miscalculate and then pay both the phone company and the accountant, I would switch to another phone company in an instant. Pity I can't do the same with the my taxes which are even harder to figure out.

[sickle]

"The politicians are also human beings"
I question this premise

[BeerByTheNumbers]

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship." -- Alexander Tytler

[LordsofMedia]

This entire presentation was done so he can rant about the Pennsylvania DOT. BRAVO!!!

[prohet-econo]

This guy is a LEGEND! Was lucky enough to have him for multiple courses.

Would legitimately fail half his class the first week to get rid of the fluff pulling the rest of the class down to maximize everyone's education, including the people he failed🤣

[AgustinaNaldiSenk]

Everyone should watch this.
Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[SunnyGault]

This is the best explanation I've ever heard about how government truly works and how it compares to the private sector. Awesome job!

[darrellbrown]

Spent 11 years in the British Civil Service in IT, just felt like banging my head everyday. The sheer reluctance to either modernise or change was just astounding. Ending up joining the Police which was much more results based and if you could do anything to either save money or make something more efficient it was adopted.

[WolfStrength]

Great video! "Politics without romance, " indeed. Once you think about these things, it's astonishing how often markets are held to a perfect utopian standard where if the first approximation isn't an absolutely perfect market, then government intervention is assumed necessary, without a thought for the first approximation failures of the political market. Prof.Davies does a great job here of clarifying some of the reasons behind political failures. His podcast, "Words and Numbers, " is also well worth a listen.

[chrissnyder]

I'm a libertarian and I stumbled across this video by accident but oh my God what a gold mine. Everything I've ever tried to explain to friends and family in one great video. This site rocks!!!

[BaronSloth]

I've been a subscriber for a long time and seen him on this channel before and always enjoyed it, but this one and the previous Inequality Myths video are some of the best content I've ever seen on these topics, not just here, but anywhere. Keep up the excellent work.

[ElChistoso]

I love this guy. I listen to him three more days, memorize his arguments, file his sources, and I'll never lose another argument again, ever!

[VaShthestampede]

"For what each individual wills is obstructed by everyone else, and what emerges is something that no one willed"
-Engels

[fefootinyourface]

I have to show this to my daughter she just graduated last summer, all they teach was safe space, micro aggression and white Privilege at UC San Diego and we are Asian. She said it was a waste, the only good thing is that she transfer there for two year from Jr college . I think she can learn more in this video than two years at UCSD.

[watchdealer]

God, I wish I had taken econ instead of engineering. I took 3 econ classes in my undergrad (2 were electives), and none of the professors come close to Antony.

[ferebew]

I love this guy. Totally unemotional while explaining the absurdity of government. I laugh the whole time, especially because I live in the same city/state as him... "I write a check every 5 years...to these people!"😂

[AlonG]

One of the best lectures I have ever seen. Good job and thank you.

[CptWacko]

The part on the DMV is hilarious, you can feel the rage they filled him with.