Boy scout Quote by Ronald Coase
““An important reason may be that government at the present time is so large that it has reached the stage of negative marginal productivity, which means that any additional function it takes on will probably result in more harm than good…. If a federal program were established to give financial assistance to Boy Scouts to enable them to help old ladies cross busy intersections, we could be sure that not all the money would go to Boy Scouts, that some of those they helped would be neither old nor ladies, that part of the program would be devoted to preventing old ladies from crossing busy intersections, and that many of them would be killed because they would now cross at places where, unsupervised, they were at least permitted to cross.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Nature of the Firm, 1937 (cited in later essays)
Criticizes oversized government programs, suggesting they become inefficient and cause unintended harm.
In simple terms: Big government can be counterproductive.
Key Takeaway
Limit government scope to avoid waste.
Themes
government size
efficiency
public policy
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
economic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- social welfare programs
- budget allocation
- regulatory oversight
Key Concepts
marginal productivity
bureaucracy
Questions to Reflect On
- What functions truly require government involvement?
- How can oversight improve program outcomes?
A Different Perspective
Complex problems may need coordinated solutions despite inefficiency.
![“I can't remember one [example of regulation] that's good. Regulation of transport, regulation of agriculture - agriculture is a, zoning is z. You know, you go from a to z, they are all bad. There were so many studies, and the result was quite universal: The effects were bad.” quote by Ronald Coase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/02e/ronald-coase-17623_agriculture_i-can-t-remember-one-example-of-regulati_654706.jpg)
![“I can't remember [of a good regulation]. Regulation of transport, regulation of agriculture — agriculture is a, zoning is z. You know, you go from a to z, they are all bad. There were so many studies, and the result was quite universal: The effects were bad” quote by Ronald Coase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/03a/ronald-coase-17623_agriculture_i-can-t-remember-of-a-good-regulation-re_974279.jpg)
