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This is an almost impossible post to respond to without it become a flame war. But if anyone is curious about the idea that we have too many government bureauc

This is an almost impossible post to respond to without it become a flame war. But if anyone is curious about the idea that we have too many government bureaucrats, and whether this increases costs, I encourage them to read the findings of the Transit Costs Project. In looking deeply into why transit is so expensive in the US, they found that a major cost was that the US has too few bureaucrats, and instead has to hire extremely expensive consultants. https://transitcosts.com/about/ https://transitcosts.com/about/ This aligns with my understanding from friends/family members who work at state and county agencies: they are rarely able to provide the quality of service people want because they're severely understaffed, and are killing themselves in a sisyphean attempt to meet people's needs.

jamestimmins 2y ago
There's a valid question to be asked about why the government allows union contracts that seem tailor-made to keep people who don't want to work hard (by making it impossible to get fired and underpaying people) while encouraging young, ambitious folks to leave, where they can be promoted more easily and aren't managed by less competent administrators. But "just get rid of 80% of the bureaucrats" isn't how you start that conversation.
ptsneves 2y ago
The counterpoint being public-servant-rich economies that stagnate and turn inwards, connecting with intrigue and politics instead of their job(Latin American Brasil and Argentina). Plus feedback mechanisms for issues of state management are incredibly crude and act at a very far away point, through the president or legislator of a nation.
throw0101d 2y ago
> In looking deeply into why transit is so expensive in the US, they found that a major cost was that the US has too few bureaucrats, and instead has to hire extremely expensive consultants. See also Noah Smith's 2023 post "America needs a bigger, better bureaucracy": > I believe that the U.S. suffers from a distinct lack of state capacity. We’ve outsourced many of our core government functions to nonprofits and consultants, resulting in cost bloat and the waste of taxpayer money. We’ve farmed out environmental regulation to the courts and to private citizens, resulting in paralysis for industry and infrastructure alike. And we’ve left ourselves critically vulnerable to threats like pandemics and — most importantly — war. * https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/america-needs-a-bigger-better-bureaucracy https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/america-needs-a-bigger-better-...
znpy 2y ago
Being understaffed is fairly common in most private enterprises as well, however, and stuff still gets done. It’s almost a sad reality most people accept.

jamestimmins 2y ago

There's a valid question to be asked about why the government allows union contracts that seem tailor-made to keep people who don't want to work hard (by making it impossible to get fired and underpaying people) while encouraging young, ambitious folks to leave, where they can be promoted more easily and aren't managed by less competent administrators. But "just get rid of 80% of the bureaucrats" isn't how you start that conversation.

ptsneves 2y ago

The counterpoint being public-servant-rich economies that stagnate and turn inwards, connecting with intrigue and politics instead of their job(Latin American Brasil and Argentina). Plus feedback mechanisms for issues of state management are incredibly crude and act at a very far away point, through the president or legislator of a nation.

throw0101d 2y ago

> In looking deeply into why transit is so expensive in the US, they found that a major cost was that the US has too few bureaucrats, and instead has to hire extremely expensive consultants. See also Noah Smith's 2023 post "America needs a bigger, better bureaucracy": > I believe that the U.S. suffers from a distinct lack of state capacity. We’ve outsourced many of our core government functions to nonprofits and consultants, resulting in cost bloat and the waste of taxpayer money. We’ve farmed out environmental regulation to the courts and to private citizens, resulting in paralysis for industry and infrastructure alike. And we’ve left ourselves critically vulnerable to threats like pandemics and — most importantly — war. * https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/america-needs-a-bigger-better-bureaucracy https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/america-needs-a-bigger-better-...

znpy 2y ago

Being understaffed is fairly common in most private enterprises as well, however, and stuff still gets done. It’s almost a sad reality most people accept.