Romer lost his audience (the commentators at Long Now and Tyler Cowen both got hung up on the who, instead of the what) with his idea about countries experimenting. Basically, he's arguing that governments should do a heck of a lot more A/B testing on how they run a country, which makes a lot of sense from an innovation perspective. To be provocative (he *is* pitching the Long Now Foundation), he says countries (too stupid/lazy to do it themselves) should let foreigners come in and do it for them, like the 99-year lease for Hong Kong.
Lee Kuan Yew should get on his jet and go talk with Romer. I think they could make a great pitch to some city/state that has a government that just wants a paycheck, so having SG manage the city better means they get a bigger paycheck without the hassle.