{"list":"tag-money","title":"Sterling’s Truths for Life: money","aphorisms":[{"key":"15","truth":"Giving a government official a big pile of money is almost always a bad idea. Just kidding. It is always a bad idea.","explanation":"
A person who earns his money and has to carefully choose how to spend it in\norder to provide his needs and wants will do so very carefully. A person who\nearns his money and is buying the needs and wants for someone else will\ntypically be pretty careful. A person who receives a gift of money will spend\nthat money on his own needs and wants somewhat carefully. A person who receives\na gift of money to spend on needs and wants of someone else has very little\nincentive to be careful.
\n\nThe last case is the condition of the government bureaucrat. Of course, the\ngovernment bureaucrats, as often as not, find a way to fix it so that the money\nthey are gifted to spend on behalf of others is spent in a way that benefits\nthemselves somehow. This might mean spending it all so that the budget next year\nwon’t be smaller. It might mean buying things that are for the office that are\nmore extravagant than frugality requires. It may mean reappropriating the money\nto spend it on things that aren’t really the intention of the money but still\nmanage to fall within the letter of the legal requirements place upon the money.
\n","tags":["government","politics","money"]}]}