Wednesday, December 30, 2009
American bureaucracies
Re news that security officials had prior information about a possible terrorist attack by a “Nigerian”: Americans are simply not good at bureaucracies. Whether it’s FEMA, the MBTA or Homeland Security, our bureaucracies don’t exactly instill confidence. Maybe it’s a matter of American expectations -- or American individualism. Sometimes we get it right. NASA’s moon-shot team comes to mind. But too often our bureaucracies simply disappoint. …
Europeans, on the other hand, love their bureaucracies. Not that we should (or can) copy European models. Notice what’s missing in the Euro-bureaucracy article. Hint: Any remote reference to three famous words. … BTW: I know piecing together terrorist information is easier said than done. It’s hard. Ironically, it may require even more government workers and analysts to get it right. But if they’re not wisely using and sharing information, what good is extra intelligence? …
Re news that security officials had prior information about a possible terrorist attack by a “Nigerian”: Americans are simply not good at bureaucracies. Whether it’s FEMA, the MBTA or Homeland Security, our bureaucracies don’t exactly instill confidence. Maybe it’s a matter of American expectations -- or American individualism. Sometimes we get it right. NASA’s moon-shot team comes to mind. But too often our bureaucracies simply disappoint. …
Europeans, on the other hand, love their bureaucracies. Not that we should (or can) copy European models. Notice what’s missing in the Euro-bureaucracy article. Hint: Any remote reference to three famous words. … BTW: I know piecing together terrorist information is easier said than done. It’s hard. Ironically, it may require even more government workers and analysts to get it right. But if they’re not wisely using and sharing information, what good is extra intelligence? …
