“Studies like this are why I get supremely annoyed by folks who like to talk about the “size of government” as if it’s meaningful measure of anything. Government should have the resources necessary to do the jobs it has to do and do them well.
Are there too many people and dollars sloshing around the Department of Defense? Almost certainly! Can we eliminate the billions of dollars and large bureaucracies at the state level doling out corporate subsidies? Yes, we can!
But as this study shows, the prudent thing to do for the public — in terms of dollars and service — is to have more public transportation employees, to ensure that states can fulfill their core function of building infrastructure without blowing money on consultants and mistakes”
https://boondoggle.substack.com/p/the-secret-thats-driving-up-highway