3 ms·

Ultimately, economic growth comes from growth in productivity, i.e. making stuff people want. We seem to be riding an ever-increasing complexity of arbitrary sy

by bfe 15y ago

Ultimately, economic growth comes from growth in productivity, i.e. making stuff people want. We seem to be riding an ever-increasing complexity of arbitrary systems, including tax laws, financial regulations, healthcare regulations, etc. that is drawing an ever greater share of the time and talents of the well-educated workforce into the world's largest game of Dungeons & Dragons against each other, and not making anything that anyone wants.

saturdayplace 15y ago
I've wondered a lot lately whether our bureaucracy might someday collapse under its own weight. Given the scale of many of our problems, and seeming incapacity of our bureaucracy to solve them, it seems like eventually people might come to the conclusion that the only solution is to throw out the bureaucracy and start over.
- nekojima 15y ago
  I'd hate to imagine the size of the bureaucracy required to manage THAT change, much less the mission creep, cascading timelines & massive cost over-runs. :-/
  - skore 15y ago
    That is true. However - instead of that, we basically have the exact same thing, just stretched out over a much longer period of time.
- zeteo 15y ago
  No bureaucracy collapses under its own weight. What happens, when rules become too complex, is that they start being enforced arbitrarily, according to the discretion of the enforcers. The system still derives its legitimacy from the supposed impartiality of written rules, but in fact becomes an ad-hoc collection of petty fiefdoms in a loose hierarchy.
  - jfoutz 15y ago
    Or, revision and simplification. Reagan's elimination of bracket creep springs to mind. an AMT for corporate income might be a useful limiter. We'd like you to grant options, we'd like you to donate charitably we'd like you to do a bunch of stuff, but at the end of the year, we still want X% of your income.
    - ppereira 15y ago
      I think that bracket creep has very little to do with simplification. If one plots the page length of the US Tax Code over time, that figure continually increases. Simple page count is probably more highly correlated with the complexity and arbitrariness of corporate tax. Tax brackets often fit on 1 page, are rarely litigated in court, and pose little complication to corporations.
      - jfoutz 15y ago
        Well, according to wikipedia, simplification doesn't get full credit. Repealed laws are replaced with notes about the law so people can understand what was going on in an historic context. Furthermore, the 1040 got shorter from 1985 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1985.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1985.pdf) 68 steps and 1986 at 67 steps, and 1987 at 65 steps. So, perhaps the litteral line count is constantly increasing - but simplification happens. you could, clearly, argue that 3 steps simpler is a drop in the ocean, and that's not without merit. however claiming simplification is impossible is clearly false.
- bravura 15y ago
  The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy. -Oscar Wilde
ppereira 15y ago
I have heard that the legal system of the Roman empire became highly technical and arcane just before its collapse.

by bfe 15y ago

saturdayplace 15y ago

I've wondered a lot lately whether our bureaucracy might someday collapse under its own weight. Given the scale of many of our problems, and seeming incapacity of our bureaucracy to solve them, it seems like eventually people might come to the conclusion that the only solution is to throw out the bureaucracy and start over.

nekojima 15y ago
I'd hate to imagine the size of the bureaucracy required to manage THAT change, much less the mission creep, cascading timelines & massive cost over-runs. :-/
- skore 15y ago
  That is true. However - instead of that, we basically have the exact same thing, just stretched out over a much longer period of time.
zeteo 15y ago
No bureaucracy collapses under its own weight. What happens, when rules become too complex, is that they start being enforced arbitrarily, according to the discretion of the enforcers. The system still derives its legitimacy from the supposed impartiality of written rules, but in fact becomes an ad-hoc collection of petty fiefdoms in a loose hierarchy.
- jfoutz 15y ago
  Or, revision and simplification. Reagan's elimination of bracket creep springs to mind. an AMT for corporate income might be a useful limiter. We'd like you to grant options, we'd like you to donate charitably we'd like you to do a bunch of stuff, but at the end of the year, we still want X% of your income.
  - ppereira 15y ago
    I think that bracket creep has very little to do with simplification. If one plots the page length of the US Tax Code over time, that figure continually increases. Simple page count is probably more highly correlated with the complexity and arbitrariness of corporate tax. Tax brackets often fit on 1 page, are rarely litigated in court, and pose little complication to corporations.
    - jfoutz 15y ago
      Well, according to wikipedia, simplification doesn't get full credit. Repealed laws are replaced with notes about the law so people can understand what was going on in an historic context. Furthermore, the 1040 got shorter from 1985 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1985.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1985.pdf) 68 steps and 1986 at 67 steps, and 1987 at 65 steps. So, perhaps the litteral line count is constantly increasing - but simplification happens. you could, clearly, argue that 3 steps simpler is a drop in the ocean, and that's not without merit. however claiming simplification is impossible is clearly false.
bravura 15y ago
The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy. -Oscar Wilde

ppereira 15y ago

I have heard that the legal system of the Roman empire became highly technical and arcane just before its collapse.