[grandempire]

> If research isn't harmful, but doesn't produce results, is that waste?

It’s certainly worse that research that does produce results. We should try to optimize for research that works.

And yes, in the extreme example of spending a lot of money and never getting anything of public utility, that would be a waste.

> What ratio of public utility to cost would you consider non-wasteful spending?

I wouldn’t use abstractions like “public health” and “public utility”. Which specific projects are funding or losing funding and what’s the impact?

> There is more upside (globally) to public health spending

Look inside the abstraction.

[wormlord]

I get that there's a discussion here over the minutae to be had in good faith. I am not qualified enough for that discussion. My point is that funding a genocidal empire is inherently bad whereas public health funding can have inefficiencies but is overall a net good.

The discussion is moot however because the agencies aren't being gutted over concerns of efficiency, but because of an ideological commitment to free market shock therapy. It's like arguing if you should order the fish or chicken while the Titanic is sinking. Sure there's an argument to be had, it's just not relevant right now.