Are Government Bureaucracies Too Big?

[longknife]

My simple answer is YES!

But, here's an excerpt from the article @ Are Government Bureaucracies Too Big? Becker - The Becker-Posner Blog

Governments, even in small countries, are vast bureaucracies that manage thousands of activities. The federal government of the United States, for example, runs a vast and complicated healthcare system, levies taxes on individuals and corporations, pays benefits to retirees, runs a large and highly mechanized military, decides whether pipelines can be built and oil exported out of the US, manages a vast payment system for the unemployed, and enforces complex regulations of banks. I could go on endlessly. A smaller government like Argentina’s does about as many things, but on a much smaller scale.

As Posner indicates, large corporations also have extensive bureaucracies, but several differences between public and private bureaucracies work against the relative efficiency of governments. The most basic is that government bureaucracies are just too big to perform most of their activities effectively. Governments undertake too many and too complicated activities to expect effective oversight from presidents, prime ministers, and legislators. Private corporations would also be much less efficient if they grew to the size of large governments, which explains why corporate bureaucracies are far more limited in size, and especially in scope.

The major difference not included is that corporate workers who don't perform are out the door. Government workers who don't perform get promoted. Peter Principle!!!

So, what, if anything, can be done about it?

 

[Indeependent]

If you can tolerate the pressure and lies of running for office perhaps the problem can be solved, but it's like going into combat with a .22.

 

[rightwinger]

The Government workforce is smaller than it was 50 years ago and we have almost twice the population

 

[Contumacious]

My simple answer is YES!

But, here's an excerpt from the article @ Are Government Bureaucracies Too Big? Becker - The Becker-Posner Blog

Governments, even in small countries, are vast bureaucracies that manage thousands of activities. The federal government of the United States, for example, runs a vast and complicated healthcare system, levies taxes on individuals and corporations, pays benefits to retirees, runs a large and highly mechanized military, decides whether pipelines can be built and oil exported out of the US, manages a vast payment system for the unemployed, and enforces complex regulations of banks. I could go on endlessly. A smaller government like Argentina’s does about as many things, but on a much smaller scale.

As Posner indicates, large corporations also have extensive bureaucracies, but several differences between public and private bureaucracies work against the relative efficiency of governments. The most basic is that government bureaucracies are just too big to perform most of their activities effectively. Governments undertake too many and too complicated activities to expect effective oversight from presidents, prime ministers, and legislators. Private corporations would also be much less efficient if they grew to the size of large governments, which explains why corporate bureaucracies are far more limited in size, and especially in scope.

The major difference not included is that corporate workers who don't perform are out the door. Government workers who don't perform get promoted. Peter Principle!!!

So, what, if anything, can be done about it?

See the thread " The 2nd Civil War"

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