Power-law theory and homelessness

Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker:

Power-law problems leave us with an unpleasant choice. We can be true to our principles or we can fix the problem. We cannot do both. ... Power-law solutions have little appeal to the right, because they involve special treatment for people who do not deserve special treatment; and they have little appeal to the left, because their emphasis on efficiency over fairness suggests the cold number-crunching of Chicago-school cost-benefit analysis. Even the promise of millions of dollars in savings or cleaner air or better police departments cannot entirely compensate for such discomfort. ...