DAVE ON ALBERT SPEER AND ECONOMICS | 2007-08-14
The most effective attack on regulation I ever ran across was recounted by Albert Speer in explaining how he went about expanding German war production in the face of relentless Allied bombing.
He redefined the meaning of the word "transaction" from its financial meaning to a social meaning: "Any thing two or more humans must meet or communicate with each other to resolve".
He then ordered senior management to count the "transactions" involved in the production chains and organizational structures they oversaw. He then ordered them to reduce the "transactions" in their operations by 50% within a period of three weeks, putting on a specially missioned audit team to measure compliance.
This forced his senior management to get rid of the bullshit. After satisfying compliance, Speer ordered further reductions in "transactions" forcing ever-greater efficiency in achieving results.
It is well known with enduring amazement Germany's ability to maintain output in the face of such heavy damage to its infrastructure during the latter phase of WWII. Albert's Speer's management genius played a major part.
Of course, for reasons of political correctness, Albert Speer is never taught in business schools. But in learning of Albert Speer's methods, I came to realize that there isn't a politician in existence who has the slightness clue as to how to actually reduce regulation, yet with the right method, it can be done in a heartbeat.
It's like what BW says, "There are times when the adults must take over" and the very notion of accountable government is that elected representatives must control public money, how much is spent and what it is spent for. Yet without control of "transactions" in the Albert Speer sense, this cannot be accomplished.
Instead our government relies on mandated financial and performance audits, forever measuring what is irrelevant and supporting yet another industry (e.g. the audit industry) with pork of no social value. Regularly state legislatures and Congress are informed of gigantic unauthorized expenditures, and regularly state legislatures and Congress levy no sanctions whatsoever for the violation of contracts the very essence of which constitutes their power as elected officials.
When anybody says America is a "democracy" I know they are clueless as to what they are talking about. To be a democracy elected officials must have effective control over public expenditure. Nowhere does this exist in America.