The Nature Of Government Bureaucracies Is To Expand

Across the world governments are broke and they won't stop spending. Expansion into all sectors of the economy has become a thing. Adding regulations to the private sector is a Trojan horse that weakens the private sector that drives economic growth. All in all the expansion of governments brings with it a fair amount of negative ramifications. One of the biggest is corruption, another is the concentration of wealth, and with this, the concentration of power. 

To fulfill the promises they make, governments often get involved in things that harm people, these include war, subsidizing parts of the economy, or steering things, by hook or crook. During the pandemic and years of low-interest rates, this trend accelerated. Still, the cost of fulfilling these promises is outrunning their ability to pay for them, this is evident in the rapid growth of sovereign debt.  

With interest rates moving higher the cost for a government to carry its national debt has exploded. The idea we are looking at higher rates for longer as central banks move us to a more sustainable return to normal does not lessen the pain taxpayers face. It also lessens the options governments face to finance their programs going forward.

The role of Government in America has changed, over many years we have seen a shift away from Adam Smith’s idea of limited government. This has occurred on federal, state, and local levels. Much of this has been in the form of mandates. Often unfunded they are fostered upon businesses, organizations, and private citizens. Governments also mask their expansion by outsourcing functions, this reduces the image of growth.

There is a new dance that officials have developed over the years, politicians and bureaucrats, deterred from expanding or funding programs by a few vigilant citizens, wait and find creative ways to reach their objective at a later date. By creating special bonds, attaching fees to needed services, or narrow taxes governments fund new authorities, commissions, and districts. These often unneeded quasi-government organizations then reach out to expand the influence and power of their directors. 

Another way governments push forward their expansion is through public–private partnerships. these are long-term arrangements between a government and private sector institutions to perform what is spun to be beneficial to the populace. This area is ripe with both cronyism and corruption. Typically, it involves private capital financing government projects and services up-front often with government guarantees and promises from taxpayers that users will create a profit for the project over time. These often become boondoggles or white elephants.

Instead of focusing on the business of government and simplicity, this proactive movement consisting of “cuteness” cloaked in a veil of flexibility and diversity continually expanding. Make no mistake, those in government are proud of their pet projects. They allow bureaucrats to experiment and try new things without the personal financial risk that a businessman must take. The problem is that they are being creative on our dime.

Nowhere is the expansion of government more apparent than in the area of social services. By replacing the word "want" with the word "need" those seeking a larger and stronger safety net have created a hammock. Many non-working Americans exist under the notion that they have a right to things like a car, free food, cell phones, internet, and free or supper low healthcare coverage and society must supply these items. 

The fact is, the government can't be everything to everyone.  At what level should we supply those who choose not, to or claim they are unable to carry their share of the burden? Those choosing to describe themselves as victims need to take more personal responsibility. Waiting for the government or someone to do things for you is a recipe for disaster. Claiming entitlements is a form of theft, those who take them do so at the expense of others.

Politicians do have a way of distancing themselves from responsibilities. Former Senator Tom Dashel claimed that business "lobbyists in Washington often blocked change." Someone should remind our elected officials that at the end of the day unless the Constitution has been changed that lobbyists are still not allowed to vote!

I should remind those who are less cynical about government that the House and Senate have placed themselves in the enviable position to receive automatic pay raises unless they specifically vote against the increase. This seldom occurs. Is it any wonder that government grows unchecked in such an environment? The big problem is that spending by governments has a poor history of creating solid economic growth.

So I ask, what is fair? This transfer of wealth from those who work to those who wish to take continues to grow in a political system where a vocal minority has great sway over legislation. If unchecked government grows - it is the nature of bureaucracy to expand. The use of sun-set legislation is underused or the bar set far too low when it comes to extending and renewing government bodies. The best time to kill a monster is when it's small and that time has passed.

 

(Republishing this article is permitted with reference to Bruce Wilds/AdvancingTime Blog)