This crap does not benefit any defensible purpose of government. Probably it does benefit certain government employees. The principal-agent problem appears again.
How do you define the principal-agent problem when appied to govt, though? Govt and its departments are not 'owned', and cabinet secretaries and even Presidents are not principals. Who is the 'principal': that particular govt's most powerful donors and lobbyists? Also, govt has both career and political appointees, the latter can change every 4/8 years. So seems to me there are multiple groups of agents/parties.
So when you say 'does not benefit any defensible purpose of government', is that a statement about political science, rather than two-party govt system with lots of lobbying? I mean it seems like any policy you could concoct would benefit some (posibly small) interest-group of people somewhere, unless it was 100% wasteful.
No one who has read your link would then question whether the chief executive is a principal: of course not. In polities who aspire to representative government, agents are anyone in public employ. Principals are the rest of us. Our interests are not served by solving problems without oversight, as GP suggests.
smcin|2 years ago
So when you say 'does not benefit any defensible purpose of government', is that a statement about political science, rather than two-party govt system with lots of lobbying? I mean it seems like any policy you could concoct would benefit some (posibly small) interest-group of people somewhere, unless it was 100% wasteful.
[0]: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/041315/how-principl...
jessaustin|2 years ago