There's a presumption that market icentives work well, not always. But similarly, i don't want to say whell government never works well because they're all just a bunch of bearcrasts with no incentive. Sometimes, inspired by their desire to be good public citizens, it's possible they can do a good job. I'll just leave it at that and let you respond.
Economist and author David Henderson talks about his book (co-authored with Steve Globerman) The Essential UCLA School of Economics with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Much of the conversation focuses on the work of Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, who both saw economics as a powerful tool for understanding human behavior and how the world works.