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This is also an apt description of the relationship between the FDA and large pharmaceutical companies. Also, the USDA and large food companies. There are lik

This is also an apt description of the relationship between the FDA and large pharmaceutical companies. Also, the USDA and large food companies. There are likely many more examples. It's a systemic problem of our structure of government.

nazgulnarsil 17y ago
it's not necessarily our structure of government. regulation (using the law to prevent certain economic activity rather than economic incentives) is always prone to falling under the influence of those it is trying to regulate. I believe it was taleb who compared financial regulation to a chess game between regulators and the regulated.
roc 17y ago
The trick is: who better to run a military contractor than former military men? Who better to run a food company than someone who has worked in the USDA? These are natural career paths for those individuals that make perfect, natural sense and --in and of themselves-- aren't a real issue. The real issue is that our government can too easily reward individual companies or industry groups with hand-outs. If a single general couldn't essentially hand a contract to a supplier on his say-so, that supplier gains nothing by bribing them with a future board position. What we really need, is for it to be more difficult for individuals to drive contract selection and for the standards for passing a bailout, tariff or corporate welfare program to be much higher. Perhaps by requiring such legislation to be stand-alone bills, and requiring an oversight office to evaluate contract selection.
- rdtsc 17y ago
  > Who better to run a food company than someone who has worked in the USDA? Are you asking as the food company, or as the proverbial "concerned citizen?" Because I would want the USDA to work for me, since I am paying my taxes. I want it to do its job and protect me from Kraft selling me salmonela infested cookie dough. It is hard for USDA to do that when they expect to be hired by Kraft and be payed large bonuses and salaries in the future. > The real issue is that our government can too easily reward individual companies or industry groups with hand-outs. The other serious problem is that individual companies can easily 'reward' (read 'bribe') their friends in high places so they can turn a blind eye and in turn harm the public. I have the naive desire to have a government that would take care and protect its citizens. I don't have the time and the resources to carry a microscope and a bacterial toolkit to the grocery store when I buy meat or eggs. I expect to pay my taxes and USDA to do its job.
  - roc 17y ago
    As a concerned citizen, naturally I don't want the USDA Director working for Kraft. But what do I care whether the director goes on to work at Kraft afterwards? Or even came from Kraft in the first place? I'd prefer we have qualified people in public office. Proven managers, subject-matter experts, etc. If we erect a wall between private industry and public service, we're not going to get that. If there's a problem with the director of the USDA being able to let his former-employer slide, that's a separate problem than where (s)he came from or is going. I'd prefer we deal with that, than try to police people's careers.
barry-cotter 17y ago
It's a systemic problem of our structure of government. True but misleading. Regulatory capture is a feature of regulated industries full stop. It just happens faster when the players whether buyers or sellers are concentrated.

nazgulnarsil 17y ago

it's not necessarily our structure of government. regulation (using the law to prevent certain economic activity rather than economic incentives) is always prone to falling under the influence of those it is trying to regulate. I believe it was taleb who compared financial regulation to a chess game between regulators and the regulated.

roc 17y ago

The trick is: who better to run a military contractor than former military men? Who better to run a food company than someone who has worked in the USDA? These are natural career paths for those individuals that make perfect, natural sense and --in and of themselves-- aren't a real issue. The real issue is that our government can too easily reward individual companies or industry groups with hand-outs. If a single general couldn't essentially hand a contract to a supplier on his say-so, that supplier gains nothing by bribing them with a future board position. What we really need, is for it to be more difficult for individuals to drive contract selection and for the standards for passing a bailout, tariff or corporate welfare program to be much higher. Perhaps by requiring such legislation to be stand-alone bills, and requiring an oversight office to evaluate contract selection.

rdtsc 17y ago
> Who better to run a food company than someone who has worked in the USDA? Are you asking as the food company, or as the proverbial "concerned citizen?" Because I would want the USDA to work for me, since I am paying my taxes. I want it to do its job and protect me from Kraft selling me salmonela infested cookie dough. It is hard for USDA to do that when they expect to be hired by Kraft and be payed large bonuses and salaries in the future. > The real issue is that our government can too easily reward individual companies or industry groups with hand-outs. The other serious problem is that individual companies can easily 'reward' (read 'bribe') their friends in high places so they can turn a blind eye and in turn harm the public. I have the naive desire to have a government that would take care and protect its citizens. I don't have the time and the resources to carry a microscope and a bacterial toolkit to the grocery store when I buy meat or eggs. I expect to pay my taxes and USDA to do its job.
- roc 17y ago
  As a concerned citizen, naturally I don't want the USDA Director working for Kraft. But what do I care whether the director goes on to work at Kraft afterwards? Or even came from Kraft in the first place? I'd prefer we have qualified people in public office. Proven managers, subject-matter experts, etc. If we erect a wall between private industry and public service, we're not going to get that. If there's a problem with the director of the USDA being able to let his former-employer slide, that's a separate problem than where (s)he came from or is going. I'd prefer we deal with that, than try to police people's careers.

barry-cotter 17y ago

It's a systemic problem of our structure of government. True but misleading. Regulatory capture is a feature of regulated industries full stop. It just happens faster when the players whether buyers or sellers are concentrated.