balaji draws a parallel between american state diplomacy (of the left) and compares it to the idea of trying to negotiate a deal with 100+ people, funds etc - let alone 100+ countries.

but unlike an actual capital allocator the state and those acting for it have no skin in the game. they only have political skin - the slimiest kind of skin.

the outcome of the deal doesn’t really matter as long as it looks good short term. and most critically they don’t fund the deal. they are simply allocating other peoples stolen funds (tax), so they dont have an incentive to get the required deal to make the deal make economic sense. they get the required deal to make the politics make sense