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Out of curiosity, do you have an explanation for the root cause of all of this?

by jmnicolas 5y ago

trentnix 5y ago
Pournelle's Law
- jmnicolas 5y ago
  I'm French, we probably have the biggest number of civil servants to population ratio in the world. We're not dysfunctional (yet?) like parent described so I'm not sure every problem in Texas can be attributed to bureaucracy.
  - kibwen 5y ago
    Not intending to comment on your broader point, I'm just amused at remembering a story that hit HN last month about a French woman who was accidentally (or possibly maliciously) declared legally dead, and has unsuccessfully spent five years attempting to convince the bureaucracy that she is alive: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/03/they-said-i-dont-exist-but-i-am-here-one-womans-battle-to-prove-she-isnt-dead https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/03/they-sa...
    - jmnicolas 5y ago
      The irony in this story is that we're still paying retirements of hundred of thousands people that are actually dead. So now that you make me think of it, we might actually be as dysfunctional as Texas but we just have better weather so it's not apparent as much.
nonameiguess 5y ago
I think it would be a research project to figure out and I am not at all equipped to carry that out, but at least two factors I'm aware of: 1) Municipalities aren't allowed to run budget deficits, so whenever there is any sort of economic downturn and revenues are short of what they projected, maintenance is often the first thing to get cut. They call it "deferred maintenance" but in practice it's just a disguised form of borrowing because you need to do it eventually and it's only going to get more expensive, which is effectively a different kind of interest. In contrast, whenever revenues exceed projections, there is tremendous pressure to just cut taxes rather than build up any kind of rainy day fund. 2) The existence of cities like Highland Park and University Park. These are entirely contained with Dallas city boundaries, small, and near the city center. They seem to exist for the sole purpose of taking all the largest and most expensive mansions and a few associated shops and public services, and walling them off from the rest of the city to make sure the wealthiest people don't see any of their tax revenue going to benefit anyone except themselves.

Out of curiosity, do you have an explanation for the root cause of all of this?

trentnix 5y ago

Pournelle's Law

jmnicolas 5y ago
I'm French, we probably have the biggest number of civil servants to population ratio in the world. We're not dysfunctional (yet?) like parent described so I'm not sure every problem in Texas can be attributed to bureaucracy.
- kibwen 5y ago
  Not intending to comment on your broader point, I'm just amused at remembering a story that hit HN last month about a French woman who was accidentally (or possibly maliciously) declared legally dead, and has unsuccessfully spent five years attempting to convince the bureaucracy that she is alive: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/03/they-said-i-dont-exist-but-i-am-here-one-womans-battle-to-prove-she-isnt-dead https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/03/they-sa...
  - jmnicolas 5y ago
    The irony in this story is that we're still paying retirements of hundred of thousands people that are actually dead. So now that you make me think of it, we might actually be as dysfunctional as Texas but we just have better weather so it's not apparent as much.

nonameiguess 5y ago

I think it would be a research project to figure out and I am not at all equipped to carry that out, but at least two factors I'm aware of: 1) Municipalities aren't allowed to run budget deficits, so whenever there is any sort of economic downturn and revenues are short of what they projected, maintenance is often the first thing to get cut. They call it "deferred maintenance" but in practice it's just a disguised form of borrowing because you need to do it eventually and it's only going to get more expensive, which is effectively a different kind of interest. In contrast, whenever revenues exceed projections, there is tremendous pressure to just cut taxes rather than build up any kind of rainy day fund. 2) The existence of cities like Highland Park and University Park. These are entirely contained with Dallas city boundaries, small, and near the city center. They seem to exist for the sole purpose of taking all the largest and most expensive mansions and a few associated shops and public services, and walling them off from the rest of the city to make sure the wealthiest people don't see any of their tax revenue going to benefit anyone except themselves.