Over time, any large business trends to increase in bloat and inefficiency, and focusing on inappropriate metrics is a big part of that.

This eventually leads to competitors taking over and those business failing, which usually results in people losing their jobs.

When governments get equally incapable, and competitors take over, it tends to be a lot more violent.

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throwway120385 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

A lot of this is the direct result of trying to run a government like a business. If we instead left some things that are unprofitable but important to government then we'd probably get better results than having businesses do those things expecting a profit. This was the model in the 30's, 40's and 50's that led to the "golden age" that people are now trying to recapture.

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rapatel0 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You're describe an age where the government was a wash with surplus dollars. Secondly, most of these research institutions run as non-profits that effectively just cover costs (but run a large hedge fund as a side business)

The escalation in costs have come from: - Incentives around US News College rankings (and the amenities that drive the rankings) - Administrative (non-teaching, non-research) bloat

Research is definitely in need of reform though, but not sure these outcomes are actually causal or even corrilated.

	▲	entropicdrifter 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		>You're describe an age where the government was a wash with surplus dollars. Hey, good point. We should really bring back that 90% top tax bracket rate to get the government back to being financially solvent again.

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vlovich123 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The golden age people are trying to recapture is the aftermath of a world war that decimated almost every major power except the US and then the US happily rebuilt everyone’s economies in exchange for riches and power. The 21st century looks very different and only really MAGA folks are looking to rewind the clock as a way to move forward.

	▲	rapatel0 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The economic theory of MAGA, is that the united states yes rebuilt the world but also exported the US consumer economy through asymmetric nonreciprocal tariffs. Rebuilding countries made money by selling to the US consumer, not the other way around. You can argue that it's overall bad for the economy, but I think you're missing the arguement.

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NoMoreNicksLeft 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The 1940s you get for free, what with the war and all nothing was ever going to be very tolerable. But what about the 1930s is a "golden age" in your opinion? What exactly is it from that era that you wish we had more of?

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autoexec 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> This eventually leads to competitors taking over and those business failing

If only that fairytale were true. In the real world bloated inefficient companies bribe government, install themselves into government agencies directly (regulatory capture), and hire lobbyists to write laws which protect them from pesky upstarts through unchecked anti-competitive practices and anti-consumer regulation allowing them to stay wealthy and in power forever while killing off innovation and progress.

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CWuestefeld 9 hours ago | parent [-]

...which I suppose is why IBM is still the industry leader in computing, while Ford, GM, and Chrysler can't be competed with. Photographers always use Kodak film, and we all talk on our Nokia cell phones. We all shop at Sears, and fly on Pan Am.

	▲	autoexec 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I never claimed that companies can't fail or change, only that bloat and inefficiencies aren't a death sentence. Even several of your examples are still alive and well and it's telling that their major declines took place in the 1980s and 1990s. Companies have gotten a lot better at abusing government and law to protect their profits over the last 40 years.

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palmotea 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> This eventually leads to competitors taking over and those business failing

It's important to note that "eventually" usually takes so long that it might as well be forever.