1. “New Learning” Barnard’s Inn Hall Holborn London EC1N 2HH Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 0575 Fax: +44 (0)20 7831 5208 Email : enquiries@gresham.ac.uk www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Commerce Michael Mainelli Goldilocks Government and the Market: Not Too Little, Not Too Much, But Just Right

2. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Outline Magic beancounters Public, private or in- between? Contracting with the people Global contracting The Government Optimeter The Competition Optimeter The Community Optimeter Do you really, really believe in smaller government – the Bear-est recipe? “Get a detailed grip on the big picture.” Chao Kli Ning

3. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Magic Beancounters

4. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Public, Private Or In-Between?

5. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Government In The Economy

6. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 General Government Expenditure As % GDP 1901 to 1998 [Source: Office of National Statistics]

7. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Federal Spending As % of GNP/GDP 1799 to 1997 [Vedder and Galloway, 1998]

8. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Contracting With The People

9. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Global Contracting

10. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 The Government Optimeter

11. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 The Competition Optimeter

12. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 The Community Optimeter

13. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 A Lack Of Locality [Jenkins, Big Bang Localism, 2004]

14. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Do You Really, Really Believe In Smaller Government – The Bear-est Recipe? Giving communities real power Re-mapping political positions on more than one dimension Developing better metrics of government, competition and community

15. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Discussion 1. Is a single measure of optimal government scale impossible? 2. Can more local democracy help keep overall government slim? 3. What other forces can help control the scale of government? “Get a big picture grip on the details.” Chao Kli Ning

16. www.gresham.ac.uk © Gresham College 2006 Goldilocks Government and the Market Thank you!