Engineers
Engineers know many things, but they don't know everything.
Silicon Valley’s Reading List Reveals Its Political Ambitions
The DOGE bulldozer is consistent with an immature approach to the politics of it.
Imagine if there was someone who could articulate the case for reform with bipartisan appeal. If they sold this the right way, it would be far more sustainable.
Musk’s approach is essentially, “You’re welcome.” The engineer-as-genius-everyone-else-is-a-moron mentality isn’t a long-term strategy.
‘Putting Musk alongside Teddy Roosevelt didn’t simply reinforce Silicon Valley’s own mythologized self-image as the modern center of creative destruction. It implicitly welded it to politics, contrasting the politically creative energies of the technology industry, set on remaking the world for the better, to the Washington regulators who frustrated and thwarted entrepreneurial change. Mightn’t everything be better if visionary engineers had their way, replacing all the messy, squalid compromises of politics with radical innovation and purpose-engineered efficient systems?’
Why voters and courts are supporting a bureaucratic slim-down
If they sold this better, they could capitalize on the popular intuition that the federal bureaucracy is a kerosene-powered Edsel.
‘Even before revelations by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, 69% of Americans thought foreign aid should be cut, according to an AP/Univ. of Chicago poll (the numbers are even high with working-class Americans). A New York Times/Siena College Poll revealed the same percentage of Americans think our political institutions are archaic and in need of a rebuild, as political scientists like Ruy Teixeira have pointed out.
‘Some of the left’s addiction to bureaucracy may be also explained by self-dealing. Some 97% of political contributions from USAID employees went to Democrats (belying the notion of a quaint non-partisan technocratic bureaucracy) and over 35,000 Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) are majority funded by government agencies like USAID.’
Connecticut Asks Congress to ‘Rethink the Jones Act’
Now ask Hawaiians what they think.
‘Officially known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act blocks foreign-flagged ships from transporting goods between U.S. ports. The law has historically had many detractors from both sides of the aisle. Republican Sen. John McCain was against it. Hawaii Democratic Rep. Ed Case has blamed the law for “artificially inflating the cost of shipping goods” to his state. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for a “one-year waiver from the Jones Act for Puerto Rico” after Hurricane Fiona hit the island in 2022.’
Musk Says Federal Workers Must Detail ‘What They Got Done’—or Risk Losing Job
On the face of it, this should not be that difficult. It would take five minutes to write this email.
Let’s see someone argue in the court of public opinion that public sector union work rules preclude any individual accountability.
‘Elon Musk said Saturday that federal employees must detail their accomplishments at work or risk losing their jobs, the latest move by the Trump administration to overhaul the government that prompted confusion among the workforce.
‘“Consistent with President [Trump’s] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk posted on X.’
It’s an interesting, if not tautological, argument:
1. The government has access to a tremendous amount of personal and commercial data
2. Elon Musk is the anti-Christ
3. While we have seen no evidence of malfeasance, the anti-Christ is going to anti-Christ
The corollary is that a lot of anonymous people have had access to this kind of data for decades. Just because we don’t know anything about their character or the controls imposed upon them doesn’t mean that we should feel comfortable about what has been in place for a very long time.
Should anyone have unfettered access to this information?
One consequence of the loathing of Musk is that people are asking questions that should be, however obliquely.
‘Let’s put aside the negative economic effects of trade wars, immigrant round-ups and geopolitical strife, and focus only on Doge. Much has already been said about the threats to individuals’ privacy, financial security, health and safety that may result from giving Musk unfettered access to the data housed within any federal agency. Far less has been made of the threats to business — excluding those owned by Musk, Trump and their immediate circle, of course. Here, there are several things I’d be worried about if I were a chief executive.’
All kinds of people abuse access to government machinery.
‘The Post exclusively reported last week that NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban’s twin brother James allegedly used his relationship with 34th Precinct commanding officer Aneudy Castillo to stop 311 enforcement at businesses he represented, many of which are in Inwood.’
Congress Lines Up Regulatory Vetoes
This month should be busy with CRA activity to roll-back last minute Biden administration regulations.
‘Agencies last year added a record 107,262 pages to the Federal Register, but Biden regulators tried to front-load significant rules to prevent their potential reversal if Republicans took complete control of Washington. The Senate Parliamentarian determined that regulations finalized after Aug. 15 could be subject to the CRA’s “lookback period.”
‘Congress has 60 legislative or session days from Jan. 24 to introduce resolutions of disapproval. Below is a cheat sheet of regulations with significant economic impact in the final months of the Biden Presidency that Congress should reverse.’
UBS vs the Swiss regulation drive
Everyone is re-evaluating their approach to regulation, it seems. The Swiss are reversing their traditional light-touch approach to financial services in delayed reaction to the collapse of Credit Suisse.
‘The push is understandable. It is less than two years since Switzerland lost one of its two global banks. Credit Suisse’s collapse, and its state-orchestrated rescue by UBS, was a huge stain on the country’s reputation for measured probity. It was also a personal trauma for Keller-Sutter, thrust into handling a high-profile systemic crisis barely two months into her finance minister role.
‘The result is that UBS now finds itself confronted by the prospect of tougher rules than global competitors. While the bank’s share price also bounced after Trump’s election, it suffered a precipitous drop at the start of February, when the group warned about the likely impact of the draft rules.’
Pentagon Prepares Potential Cuts for DOGE
Here’s my prediction: the losers will be the traditional defense contractors and the winners will be companies like Anduril and Palantir. Investors have been pricing this dynamic in for a while. Maybe we’re set up for a “buy-the-rumor-sell-the-fact” hangover.
‘In a bid to get ahead of what could be drastic cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, some parts of the military are preparing lists of weapons they have long wanted to cancel but couldn’t get past lawmakers seeking to protect spending in their districts.
If this frees up funding for a massive shipbuilding program, then nobody would be happier than me.
‘DOGE members are expected at the Defense Department as soon as Friday, defense officials said. The Pentagon has received a list of DOGE officials assigned to the department but hasn’t publicly released it, they added.’