> 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 ex

> 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-...