It is hard to overestimate the importance of this point, for in most-though
not all-situations where no actual market failures can be identified, people's
private troubles cannot typically be ameliorated by even the most well-intentioned
governmental interventions. And even when some amelioration is possible, there
are usually many adverse side effects. In some cases, it may nevertheless be
worthwhile to pay the price of these side effects, but such calculations must be
done carefully and scrupulously.
Besides market failures, the main situations where private troubles can warrant
definition as public problems are