> The federal government is incredibly inefficient, about 50x too large,

Compared to what, though? While I agree many improvements are possible, whenever I see this kind of claim it seems seems based on a vague theorized Golden-Age/Location/Situation.

I mean, have you seen what it's like in a modern country which have public-sector employment rates only 1/50th of the US? Trick question: Nobody knows, they don't exist.

I feel this strongly implies that there is something rather "inefficient" about such systems, since something that cannot form or survive doesn't accomplish much. (At least with the social and technological building blocks available to humanity today.)