The feasibility of a desirable minimal state

Dwight Lee (1989) argues on utilitarian grounds that the minimal state of c lassical liberalism cannot be both desirable and feasible: if desirable, it is not attainable; if attainable, it is not desirable. Lee's article provi des an intriguing new perspective on the long debate about the optimal size of government. His conclusions, however, do not hold if some of his restri ctive assumptions are relaxed. In a more general model, the minimal state c an be both desirable and feasible.