Elon Musk has announced that he would like to serve in a Trump administration as the head of a newly-created Department of Government Efficiency which he labeled the D.O.G.E. Just what we need: A new federal bureaucracy. Former President Trump did convene such a “commission” during his presidency that turned out to be useless, but nevertheless responded that Musk’s suggestion was a great idea.
In reality, the phrase “government efficiency” is as much a contradiction in terms as say, “jumbo shrimp,” “double extra-large slim fit,” or “military intelligence.” It reminded me of how my friend and coauthor, Professor James Bennett of George Mason University and an adjunct scholar of the Heritage Foundation, was asked to be on the Reagan administration’s “government efficiency commission.” (Every administration has one). After many months of useless bureaucratic meetings Jim received in the mail a framed certificate of appreciation from the federal government and all the glass had been smashed to smithereens. “Typical of government efficiency,” I recall him saying.
Businessmen like Trump and Musk are always talking about making government more “business-like,” and an “efficiency commission” is always the first step. Put us in charge, they say, and government will become a smooth-running machine. (God help us if that were to be true). Efficient government is about as likely as making a cat bark like a dog or a dog meow like a cat. Government is inherently inefficient because of its very nature.
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https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/08/thomas-dilorenzo/elon-musks-d-o-g-e-is-a-dodge/
