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> The Commission initiates legislation, but it has no reason to be reticent. It cannot make policy by announcing new spending commitments and investments, as th
by amadeuspagel 10mo ago
> The Commission initiates legislation, but it has no reason to be reticent. It cannot make policy by announcing new spending commitments and investments, as the budget is tiny, around one percent of GDP, and what little money it has is mostly earmarked for agriculture (one-third) and regional aid (one-third). In Brussels, policy equals legislation. Unlike national civil servants and politicians, civil servants and politicians who work in Brussels have one main path to build a career: passing legislation.
This is also relevant in debt-brake discussions. Many who want a smaller government support limits on debts, but a smaller budget leaves passing laws as the only way for politicians to assert themselves. Often, spending money is a less harmful way for a politician to get a headline then passing a law.
- appreciatorBus 10mo agoIn the same way that we budge the quantity of dollars we can spend, we should probably budget the quantity of laws we can create, and laws that can exist at any given time.
- dmix 10mo agoMandatory expiry dates or renewal cycles. You can bypass the expiry/renewal process with a large majority.
- solace_silence 10mo agoSounds like a lobbyist dream.
- jltsiren 10mo agoThe budget is ultimately limited by the government's ability to extract value. There are no similar limits to the quantity of laws and regulations that can be in effect at the same time. Legislators can of course impose an arbitrary limit, but they can just as easily increase the limit or repeal it, if they don't like it.
- CGMthrowaway 10mo agoThe number of laws is limited by several factors, among them: The ability of the governed to remember and attend to them all The resources of the government available to explain, interpret and enforce compliance The willingness of the governed to obey them without a gun being brought out The willingness and ability of the government to bring out a gun to enforce them For instance, when the rule of avoidance in late imperial China created a 5x increase in rate of new regulations, the result was up to 30% decrease in tax collections and a counterintuitive increase in the power and influence of local clerks, gentry and militias, laying the groundwork supportive of the eventual mutiny against and collapse of Qing rule
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]