Government Role in Promoting Development

MOJ-friend Robby George sent the following observation in response to my post about the impact of the Malawi government's decision to subsidize fertilizer and seeds to its struggling farmers:

"I think the comments you posted on MoJ this morning concerning the positive role government assistance and foreign aid can play in promoting development are right on the mark, as is the pointed question you raise at the end.  Inept government policies in this area and others have given libertarian ideology an unjustified plausibility.  Government, when it recognizes that its role is subsidiary, not primary, and when it respects the principles of local autonomy, family authority, and personal responsibility, can be part of the solution.  (Otherwise, of course, government worsens the problems it proposes to solve, and leaves our libertarian friends in the position to say "we told you so")."