Welcome to the Federal Bureau for Reducing Bureaucracy!
Unknown
Love him or hate him, Trump’s approach of slashing government institutions might be something (DOGE). If I remember correctly, when you ask companies whether they prefer tax cuts or reduced regulations/bureaucracy, they prefer the later. Taxation might be akin to theft, but bureaucracy strangles innovation. Considering that we are currently in an «innovate or die» phase of our evolution, bureaucracy might be the greatest enemy to our survival. Well, other than the looming risk of worldwide thermonuclear war (strange times).
It will be interesting to see whether that approach actually works. If two geeks on a mission (Elon Musk Vivek Ramaswamy) can do what bureaucrats and politicians (so-far) couldn’t do. Then again, the later usually do not have an interest in reducing their power base. Reminds me a bit of the «Atlas Shrugged» miniseries:
«You seem pretty happy I violated one of your new laws.»
«That’s what laws are for, Mr. Rearden. If the right people don’t break them, they’re of no use whatsoever.»
Atlas Shrugged (miniseries)
The idea itself is not new, Milton Friedman argued for it:
«What are its fundamental functions? Preserve the peace, defend the country, provide a mechanism whereby individuals can adjudicate their disputes. That’s the Justice Department. Protect individuals from being coerced by other individuals. The police function. Right. And now, this is both the central government and the state and local governments. The police function is primarily local and central. Right. And those are the fundamental functions of government, in my opinion.»
Milton Friedman
Javier Milei argued along the same lines, just more direct. He was willing to take the chainsaw, while Friedman went for persuasion.
It will be interesting to see what an two-headed advisory body can do. If they can actually pull it off … then the times might become really interesting. 🙂