Thanks, Bee. I'd like to read a bit about the Nova Scotian program (how it worked, and how results were measured. Outcomes don't have to be quantified, but it helps transparency when indicators can be identified and compared.)

I find it easy to complain, but much harder to visualise better alternatives. I can't even picture a better system for allotting funding to public needs than "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" with arms' length bodies doing the divvying - basically the system we have now, with all its short-sightedness and vulnerability to corruption.