To me, being a decent human being who wants to serve rather than play god is a minimum requirement for public service. I also want that person to be able to think critically and base policy on evidence (when there is evidence to be had). Sometimes, these things even overlap: For example, criminal justice.

Few would disagree that reducing illegal immigration is OK, the issue is ordering a wall with little consideration of costs, effectiveness, game theory, political reactions, etc. The hard stuff.

Would you expand on this? I was quite impressed with what I read in Nudge. Did any of this practical thinking carry over to OIRA? Or was that perhaps part of the problem?