Measuring state size misses how the same state can enforce greater freedom

Evidence

Apparently, one could reconcile oneself to live in a world where quantitatively more state apparat abided with quantitatively less slavery (or serfdom), which should quell the rather naive hand-wringing one sometimes encounters, complaining that a quarter-century of neoliberal ascendancy has done little to reduce the size of the state, no matter how you choose to measure it (Prasad 2006, 7–12). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2140

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to Prasad’s ‘Politics of Free Markets’ work and to the wider debate over whether neoliberalism has shrunk or reshaped the state; useful counterpoint to simple ‘small government’ narratives. — connects to: Range of choice matters less than what can be chosen under repressive totality — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 121

Broader Connections

• Range of choice matters less than what can be chosen under repressive totality #expands (0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 121