Re:Billionaires and the Evolution of Overconfidence
by nine_k on Saturday July 08, 2023 @06:51PM
(#36649573)
The Manhattan project was a result of a pretty critical situation (the beginning of the nuclear race), and was started by a Nobel laureate, a radical reformer of physics, with a group of other physics luminaries. Not billionaires, but much more rare birds.
The interstate highway project was arguably taken during a very deep and long-lasting crisis by the off-the-charts administration of FDR, who served three consecutive terms, despite whatever traditions, and deeply reworked many American state institutions; talk about overconfidence.
I'd say that the peak power of a POTUS is larger than that of a billionaire; the latter may have a longer planning horizon though, and put in effort and resources for a couple of decades.
I disagree: What billionaire "tackled" the Manhattan project, or the US interstate highway system?
Even if we exclude governments/taxpayers for some arbitrary reason, that also leaves operations consisting of lots of sub-billionaires.
If it seems like only billionaires can do such things these days, perhaps that indicates that other options have been politically neutered by somebody for some reason.