Proverbs, Policymaking, Welfare, and Public Choice

Maurizio Bovi
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Maurizio Bovi: Sapienza University of Rome

Chapter Chapter 8 in The Invisible Handshake, 2026, pp 67-74 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter links folk sayings with formal economic analysis across public choice, welfare, and governance. It shows how household-focused maxims such as “Charity begins at home” frame family reciprocity as governance, while aphorisms like “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink” capture monetary-policy limits and the “pushing on a string” dilemma where credibility and behavioral transmission shape macro outcomes. Advice about “teaching a man to fish” echoes capability and empowerment debates; warnings against chasing “two rabbits” anticipate Tinbergen’s assignment principle; complaints about “too many chiefs” mirror public-choice critiques of bureaucratic fragmentation and perverse incentives. The text also connects intergenerational sayings to sustainability and beyond‑GDP concerns, and links folk warnings to moral hazard, incentive compatibility, and countercyclical prudence. Overall, vernacular wisdom functions as informal institutions and heuristics that translate abstract theory into culturally-grounded guidance for policy design and collective welfare and democratic legitimacy across societies.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:spbchp:978-3-032-25194-7_8

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-25194-7_8

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