Well-intentioned or not, it is simply fallacious to deem government construction projects or social programmes as productive “investments”. As the only entities in society — besides criminals — that exist through the involuntary exaction of private property, governments rely on compulsion to achieve their ends. Unlike private enterprises, politicians are immune from profits and losses; it is immaterial whether they are servicing the public as revenues can always be coerced from the populace. [Entire letter]