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Comment by peteretep | Hacker News Reader

I have some dealings with the Isle of Man. It is only a slight exageration to say I have conversations with my accountant there where he says "I don't know the answer to that, but my mate Paddy is Finance Minister this year, so I'll check with him later"

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Leopold Kohr, the great decentralist economist, used to tell, about going to Lichtenstein and wanting to visit the Prime Minister of the country. He went to the castle, rang the bell, and the man who answered the door and ushered him in, whom he assumed to be a servant, turned out to be the Prime Minister himself. And when they were seated in his office, chatting, the phone rang and the minister answered, saying, “Government.” You see? with a tiny country like that government is always there, always responsive, always able to answer the phone and take care of your problem.

Source: https://centerforneweconomics.org/publications/an-overview-o...

"Whenever something is wrong, something is too big" -- L. Kohr

> with a tiny country like that government is always there, always responsive, always able to answer the phone and take care of your problem.

I doubt it. A government of a small country does not necessarily have more resources per citizen. But Lichtenstein is one of the richest countries in the world, so the service level might be higher than the average country.

If Lichtenstein is like the typical small town, then it very much depend on who you are, if the government is going to take care of your problems when you call.

A major benefit of a tiny social structure is that it just cannot be very oppressive AND keep its members. Unhappy? Just join a neighboring structure.

This very option moderates local chiefs appetites.

In the typical small town some local public servants chose to decide who they will take care of, and how, because they feel empowered by the huge central government. You cannot escape, they are your sole way towards your goal.

I remember visiting Iceland and eating in a restaurant, where the guy at the next table turned out to be Magnús Skarphéðinsson, the founder of the Iceland Elf School, brother of Össur Skarphéðinsson, then Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Magnús was also famous for many other things, leading us to feel that Iceland needed people to take on all kinds of different roles in life because there were so few Icelanders!

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