The Best of all Possible Worlds

In the 1700s, philosopher Gottfried Leibniz sought to answer the prevailing theological question of the Enlightenment: Why, if God is good, is there evil in the world? His conclusion was that God would create the "best of all possible worlds". A world without evil could not have good, he reasoned, and a world without danger could not have bravery. In other words, Liebniz felt that the best world would be the one in which the fewest starting conditions produced the greatest variety of outcomes.
Public policy might be able to learn a thing or two from German philosophy. It's often impossible to overhaul outdated processes, Byzantine services, and beleaguered regulations without rewriting the laws on which they were based. And in many societies—particularly those built on common law and precedent—the older a law is, the more baggage it collects. To fix this, we can take inspiration from Liebniz: Enact the simplest rule that has the widest implications. In Estonia, for example, a simple policy that the government may only collect information about a citizen once forced a broad restructuring of public services.
In this talk, FWD50 co-chair Alistair Croll offers some candidate policies that are deceptively simple, but would go a long way to creating a better society for all.