Comedy
The absurdity of bureaucracy
Is this a joke? Bureaucrats blame bureaucracy for lack of fire progress
Awkward. Bureaucrats can be counted on for one thing: passing the parcel of responsibility.
‘Re “Brush clearing reforms to curb fires lag” (April 24): This story reads like a joke! How could highly paid city employees actually say no one is doing anything because no one told them what to do? It is shocking that anyone would say that. These highly paid employees have sat on their hands for two years while the fire danger increases every day they hide behind their excuse. Nothing for two years!
‘Yet none of these bureaucrats will face any consequences as a result. They will continue to collect their big checks and build their generous pensions, all the while hiding in plain sight while waiting for someone else to get the brush clearing done. Where is the motivation? Where is the initiative? Where is the accountability?’
You Don’t Just Pay Taxes on April 15. Here’s a Hidden Tax That Picks Your Pocket All the Time.
Regulatory costs are a form of taxation that is entirely opaque. Reduce it and watch growth fly.
‘The federal government doesn’t just pass laws in Congress. Each year, many of the 438 federal agencies—nominally under the president’s control through the executive branch—publish tens of thousands of pages in regulations, red tape that increases the costs of business, transportation, and many other factors Americans often don’t consider.
‘This imposes a kind of hidden tax that makes everything more expensive. It also justifies the work of the Department of Government Efficiency and other efforts to streamline the federal government, according to Clyde Wayne Crews, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of the annual report, “Ten Thousand Commandments.” Crews released the 2025 version of the report on Thursday.’
Step one, regulate the banks so that they get out of business lines.
Step two, see non-bank financial institutions step into the breach and start being very active in these vacated areas.
Step three, let the banks provide financing to the unregulated non-bank financial institutions.
Voila! The banks are exposed to business in ways hidden from the regulators.
‘While we have focused on publicly traded REITs, this raises broader questions about the growing linkages between banks and NBFIs. Acharya et al. (2024) document that NBFI drawdowns have risen from 25% in 2013 to over 50% post‐COVID, with private NBFIs accounting for nearly 60% of drawdowns by private firms (compared to 30% for public ones). Additionally, credit lines to NBFIs such as business development companies (BDCs) and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) have increased from 28% to 42% of total bank credit to NBFIs between 2013 and 2023. Given that private NBFIs generally exhibit higher credit line utilisation rates than REITs, stress in their funding conditions could similarly affect banks via the credit line channel. In essence, as NBFIs continue to expand their role in credit intermediation, their continuing reliance on banks for contingent liquidity highlights a critical channel through which risks may be transmitted back to the banking system.’
Why Trial Lawyers Hate Florida’s Insurance-Market Reforms
Tort lawyers are like regulatory bounty hunters, or so they would have you believe. They find people doing bad things, sue them, and we all benefit.
In practice, too often, they allege bad conduct, sue people, and they benefit while the people bear the costs.
‘When I was speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, the Legislature acted to end frivolous lawsuits and abusive tactics by lawyers while protecting people with legitimate legal claims. We also enhanced regulatory authority and raised penalties imposed on any insurer that failed to pay customers’ claims properly and promptly. These two major reforms ignored the special-interest fights among attorneys and insurance companies and put the focus where it belongs: on making litigation and insurance rules fair and premiums more affordable for all consumers.
‘The benefits of those reforms are now kicking in. Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced in February that nearly two-thirds of automobile premiums are declining between 6% and 10.5% this year, depending on the insurer, with more decreases expected as filings continue. If we stay the course, we should see even more-affordable rates in the years ahead.
‘Floridians are also seeing improvements with homeowners insurance. While 2024 rates continued to increase by double digits nationally, according to S&P Global, Florida premiums only increased 1% on average. This was the lowest rate of increase in the nation and well below the rate of inflation. Forty-three companies, representing 79% of policies on the market, filed either a decrease in 2024 or didn’t file increases. Our reforms ended the billboard-lawyer gravy train and eliminated the big increases in homeowners premiums we faced before those reforms became effective. Together with funding for home-hardening programs like My Safe Florida Home, the Sunshine State’s property insurance market will continue to stabilize and become more affordable in the years ahead.’
The High Cost of the Fed’s Mission Creep
Warsh talks about drift at the Fed, an institution we are told needs to retain its independence.
This is dangerous territory.
‘In my view, forays far afield—for all seasons and all reasons—have led to systemic errors in macroeconomic policy. The Fed has acted more as a general-purpose agency of government than a narrow central bank. Institutional drift has coincided with the Fed’s failure to satisfy an essential part of its statutory remit, price stability. It has also contributed to an explosion of federal spending. And the Fed’s outsize role and underperformance have weakened the important and worthy case for monetary-policy independence.’
Regulations based on vibes don’t work — policy must come from facts and data
Narrative is everything.
‘So why did we turn our backs on nuclear? Not because the science changed, but because the story did — and because too many actors benefited from telling the wrong one. Misinformation, media sensationalism, fossil fuel lobbying and activist fear campaigns combined to create a stigma and opposition that persists even among climate advocates. ‘
This is dysfunction.
‘Highway 1 in Big Sur has been closed for 838 days. In that time China has built 3500 miles of high speed rail, and California hasn't been able to fix a quarter mile of highway.’