Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

Walter Russell Mead

Sep 14, 2015

 

There are few miseries more widely felt than the pains of sitting in traffic. Daily, millions of commuters take to overused, often poorly maintained roads and head towards their many destinations. While congested roads may seem like an unavoidable constant of life—and to some extent they are—a new study from the nonpartisan think tank Common Good suggests that a considerable amount of this inefficiency is the result of an over-complicated process for the approval of new projects. From the * WSJ:

 

Reform of the licensing process for infrastructure projects is a vital part of the restructuring government needs. Layers of conflicting mandates, bureaucracies with overlapping responsibilities, and legal and regulatory processes that are sluggish and out of date make necessary projects and repairs slower and much more expensive than they need to be.

 

But this is just one window into the many ways that our government processes and bureaucratic institutions are too slow—and how this inefficiency imposes huge costs. Private business faces the same kinds of delays and obstruction when it comes to permits and clearances.

 

(Snip)

 

 

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* Behind Paywall Google "Highway to Bureaucratic Hell"