Tag: Management

Government By Management

Inkwell Institute

Subject:  Federalism/Governance/Management

Paper #21

Public policy is simply the programs that a government pursues…..I did say …”simply”.

Governmental policies should be properly managed and for the last 25 or more years they have not…..management has been replaced with control by private enterprises…the theory being that a well managed company can run the government more efficiently than anyone……I would say this is an erroneous belief considering the shape of the country and especially the public policy…..but for proper management there must be rationalism….and there is the key!

Yes, that is correct, I believe the key to good governmental management is rationalism….a rational government is a good government.  In my years in grad school I studied public policy and there are ways to actually approach government in a rational way……

Please forgive me but I am working on this with an “old” brain and I may have a lapse or two of memory…..if government is rational then it will also be efficient and is that not what we all are looking for in our government?

To approach public policy in a rational way, there a a few things that must be followed…..I am talking about our reps as well as our presidential staff….everyone involved must have a rational perspective……but what makes a rational public policy?

There are a few things that policy makers must take into account for any policy to be rational….

1–know what is important in society and weigh their impact

2–know ALL policy alternatives that may be available.

3–know the consequences of all policies and their alternatives.

4–select the most efficient policy

5–go for it

Above are simple things that can make government good and efficient….but it takes accurate information, not the lame promises that have NO validity once they start to govern…….in other words prepare public policy from information not slogans.

Take the last big election for “change”……..and what did we get incrementalism.  In other words, we got NO change, just a continuation of the past government with a few minor revisions.

Now look at Obama’s public policy…….is it efficient or for that matter….rational?

It Is All Labor’s Fault!

How about a small reality check?

GM is sucking hind tit, Chrysler is whining and selling off assets, Ford has hit bottom and now I hear from various circles that it is labor’s fault that the auto industry is crashing. The Unions and the workers negotiated and got higher pay, better benefits, etc. Afterwards, the companies whined that they could not afford the increases. Now that the slowdown has hit the industry it is costing jobs and such. Now all the gains that labor has made in the past has come back to bite them in the butt and makes them the obvious scapegoat for the industry’s problems.

First of all, let me lead with this statement—What a crock of crap! The auto industry is crapping out because of the decisions made by management, not the workers. These CEOs, COOs, CFOs, all knew what was happening in the economy and what trends were on the horizon. The workers did not design the cars or make the decision on what models were to be produced. The workers did not decide what bad investments to make.

Management teams were chosen on the promises of an increase of dividends to investors. In return these teams made millions even if they put the company in a bad light. If these teams were caught flat footed by the situation, then I say that they are not worth the millions they are receiving as compensation. Workers did not make these horrible decisions. The workers did not set out to destroy the auto industry.

Please stop blaming labor for the auto industry putting itself into the crapper. To blame labor and unions for any of the economic woes of the auto industry in this country is just plain—let me spell it out for you—S-T-U-P-I-D!