no third solution » Bureaucracy
The Zoning Board
One of my guilty pleasures—actually it’s a combination of boredom and late-night TV—is watching one of the local commissions on zoning on public access on Thursday nights. Setting aside the finer points of the matter in front of the council, after having watched a few of these proceedings I notice a pattern emerges.The curmudgeonly old lady, presumably a throw-back incumbent and self-confessed “life-long resident” of the city is strictly by the book. She is also as clueless as she is curious; often questioning the petitioner or petitioner’s representative about the details of the petition, despite these facts having been made painstakingly clear in the opening. She often raises the sort of technical questions the merits of which she is clearly unqualified to evaluate, as evidenced by improper use of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Property Rights
Southwest Airlines and the FAA
On the radio this morning, I heard about a recent scandal involving the FAA and Southwest Airlines1, willfully ignoring established safety regulations. Now, it might be the case that Southwest is an evil corporation exploiting customers who suffer from informational assymetry. But what about the FAA, the government agency charged with protecting the public from evil corporations like Southwest? If the agency is in bed with the evil corporations, what does this tell you about the nature of government agencies? The presence of a government oversight agency is no real safeguard against danger, but is often believed to be just that! People are lulled into a false sense of security, believing that the government will protect them: from terrorism, from criminals, from evil corporations. But time … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bureaucracy