Government intervention in the free market always leads to a lower national standard of living. The adoption of fractional gold reserves in a currency system always leads to depreciation, to devaluation, to demonetization, and, ultimately, to complete destruction of that currency. In a free market, good money drives bad money out of circulation. A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip. Threat of capital controls accelerates marginal capital outflows.
Massive expenditures obscure the evidence of bad judgments.
The strong take from the weak, the rich take from the poor, and the government takes from everyone. Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. Men and nations will act rationally when all other possibilities have been exhausted. An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications. Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.