Why Government Fails So Often: And How It Can Do Better (72 page)

12
. Jennifer Steinhauer, “Congressional Committees Make Some Gun-Rights Provisions Permanent,”
New York Times
, March 14, 2013.

13
. Julia Preston, “Officials Concede Failure on Gauging Border Security,”
New York Times
, March 21, 2013.

14
. See, generally, Kelman,
Procurement and Public Management
.

15
. James C. Scott,
Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
(1998).

16
. See, generally, Stephen Breyer,
Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation
(1993).

17
. Beryl A. Radin,
Federal Management Reform in a World of Contradictions
(2012), 148–62.

18
. See Peter H. Schuck & Richard J. Zeckhauser,
Targeting in Social Programs: Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples
(2006), 129–31.

19
. Sephanie Banchero, “Head Start Programs Face a New Test,”
Wall Street Journal
, April 27, 2012 (chart).

20
. Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, “Is Head Start Working for American Students?” January 21, 2010,
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2010/01/21-head-start-whitehurst
.
The study is published at
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/head-start-impact-study-final-report-executive-summary
.

21
. Head Start Research,
Third Grade Follow-up to the Head Start Impact Study Executive Summary
,
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/head_start_executive_summary.pdf
.

22
. Eduardo Porter, “Misdirected Investments in Education,”
New York Times
, April 3, 2013.

23
.
“
Little Steps,”
Economist
, February 9, 2013.

24
. Peter Orszag & John Bridgeland, “Can Government Play Moneyball?”
Atlantic
, July–August 2013, 64–65.

25
. Grover J. Whitehurst & David J. Armor, “Obama’s Preschool Proposal Is Not Based on Sound Research,” July 24, 2013,
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2013/07/24-preschool-proposal-whitehurst
.

26
. Carl Bialik, “Hurdles for New Line on Poverty,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 21, 2013.

27
. Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
(2012).

28
. David Paul Kuhn, “Could Gas Prices Sink Obama’s Reelection?”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/09/could_gas_prices_sink_obamas_reelection_2012_study_president_approval_gas_price_109157.html
, cited in E. Donald Elliott, “Why the U.S. Does Not Have a Renewable Energy Policy,”
Environmental Law Reporter
43 (2013): 10098n31.

29
. See, generally, Christopher Howard,
The Hidden Welfare State: Tax Expenditures and Social Policy in the United States
(1999).

30
. See Robert Caro,
The Passage to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
(2012).

31
. See, however, Gerald N. Rosenberg,
The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?
(1991); and Michael J. Klarman, “How Brown Changed Race Relations: The Backlash Thesis,”
Journal of American History
81 (1994): 81–118.

32
. See, e.g., Norman J. Ornstein & Thomas E. Mann, eds.,
The Permanent Campaign and Its Future
(2000).

33
. Anne Joseph O’Connell, “Qualifications: Law and Practice of Selecting Agency Leaders” (unpublished manuscript, 2012).

34
. Paul C. Light,
A Government Ill-Executed: The Decline of the Federal Service and How to Reverse It
(2008), 82 (citing Hugh Heclo’s 1987 study, “The In-and-Outer System”).

35
. U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 7.

36
. See, generally, Richard R. John,
Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse
(1998).

37
. Gail Collins, “The Point of Lance,”
New York Times
, January 16, 2013.

38
. Joe Nocera, “It’s D-Day for the Post Office,”
New York Times
, July 30, 2012.

39
. Ron Nixon, “Post Office Rebuffed Again on 5-Day Service,”
New York Times
, March 22, 2013.

40
. Stephen Greenhouse, “Postal Service Is Nearing Default as Losses Mount,”
New York Times
, September 5, 2011.

41
. “No Child Left Behind Act,”
New York Times
, July 6, 2012.

42
. See, generally, “Sponging Boomers,”
Economist
, September 29, 2012, 75.

43
. See, e.g., Daniel A. Sumner, “ ‘The World’s Most Outdated Law’: Why the Next Farm Bill Should Be the Last,”
Atlantic
, April 25, 2003,
http://www.aei.org/article/economics/the-worlds-most-outdated-law-why-the-next-farm-bill-should-be-the-last/?utm_source=today&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=042913#mbl
.

44
. Robert J. Samuelson, “A Bumper Crop of Inertia,”
Washington Post
, September 12, 2007.

45
. Jonathan Gruber, “A Loophole Worth Closing,”
New York Times
, July 12, 2009 (arguing for repeal of tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance); Yonah Freemark & Lawrence J. Vale, “Illogical Housing Aid,”
New York Times
, October 31, 2012 (arguing for a cap on the mortgage interest deduction).

46
.
Theodore M. Hesburgh, “A Setback for Educational Civil Rights,”
Wall Street Journal
, March 18, 2010.

47
. “Fluoridation Debate, Redux,”
New York Times
, March 18, 2012, SR 10;
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm
.

48
. “The Economic Impact of Significant U.S. Import Restraints,” June 2002, 115–128, at
http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub3519.pdf
.

49
. John Bussey, “Oil and the Ghost of 1920,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 14, 2012, B1.

50
. “The Economic Impact of Significant U.S. Import Restraints,” xviii.

51
. Shaila Dewan, “Mortgage Aid Programs Were Halted, Papers Show”,
New York Times
, May 2, 2012, B4.

52
. Shaila Dewan, “New Defaults Trouble a Mortgage Program,”
New York Times
, July 25, 2013, B2.

53
. Annie Lowrey, “Treasury Faulted in Effort to Relieve Homeowners,”
New York Times
, April 12, 2012, B3.

54
. Edward Wyatt, “Obama Orders Regulators to Root Out ‘Patent Trolls’,”
New York Times
, June 4, 2013.

55
. Carl Hulse, “Lesson Is Seen in Failure of Law on Medicare in 1989,”
New York Times
, November 17, 2013.

56
. Jonathan Weisman, “G.O.P. Claims Victory as Bill to Curb Flight Delays Passes,”
New York Times
, April 26, 2013.

57
. See, generally, Jerry L. Mashaw & David L Harfst,
The Struggle for Auto Safety
(1990).

58
. Ross Levine, “The Governance of Financial Regulation: Reform Lessons from the Recent Crisis,”
International Review of Finance
12 (2012): 39–56.

59
. See, e.g., Richard Rose & Phillip L. Davies,
Inheritance in Public Policy: Change without Choice in Britain
(1994).

60
. Robert Pear, “In a Shift, Medicare Pushes Bids,”
New York Times
, April 19, 2012.

61
. Stuart H. Altman & David Shactman,
Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle
(2011), 107–10.

62
. Susan Martin, “Labor Migration to the United States: Challenges and Opportunities,” paper presented at the Mortimer Caplin Conference, University of Virginia, December 7, 2012; Peter H. Schuck & John E. Tyler, “Making the Case for Changing U.S. Policy Regarding Highly Skilled Immigrants,”
Fordham Urban Law Journal
38 (2010): 327–62.

63
. James Madison, “Federalist No. 62.”

64
. Devjani Roy & Richard J. Zeckhauser, “Ignorance: Lessons from the Laboratory of Literature” (unpublished manuscript, 2013).

65
. Scott R. Baker, Nicholas Bloom, & Steven J. Davis, “Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty” (January 1, 2013), Chicago Booth Research paper no. 13-02, cited in Bill McNabb, “Uncertainty Is the Enemy of Recovery,”
Wall Street Journal
, April 29, 2013.

66
. William A. Galston, “Policy Uncertainty Paralyzes the Economy,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 25, 2013.

67
. Dani Rodrik & Richard Zeckhauser, “The Dilemma of Government Responsiveness,”
Journal of Public Policy & Management
7 (1988): 601–20. See also Amihai Glazer & Lawrence S. Rothenberg,
Why Government Succeeds and Why It Fails
(2001), 6.

68
. On the banks, see Ryan Tracy & Michael R. Crittenden, “Small Banks Clutch Lifeline,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 24, 2013.

69
. Rick Lyman, “Tennesse Governor Hesitates on Medicaid Expansion, Frustrating Many,”
New York Times
, November 16, 2013.

70
. E. Donald Elliott, “Why the United States Does Not Have a Renewable Energy Policy,”
Environmental Law Reporter
43 (2013): 10097.

71
. Stephanie Kirchgaessner, “Scientists Claim Funding Pinch is ‘Demoralising a Generation,’ ”
Financial Times
, January 26, 2013.

72
.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
, 132 S. Ct. 2566, 2604 (2012)

73
. Glazer & Rothenberg,
Why Government Succeeds and Why It Fails
, 80–81.

74
. Kira R. Fabrizio, “The Effect of Regulatory Uncertainty on Investment: Evidence from Renewable Energy Generation,”
Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization
29 (2013): 765–98.

75
. Glazer & Rothenberg,
Why Government Succeeds and Why It Fails
, 111. See also Schuck & Zeckhauser,
Targeting in Social Programs
.

76
. Glazer & Rothenberg,
Why Government Succeeds and Why It Fails
, 144–45.

77
. Eric M. Patashnik,
Putting Trust in the US Budget: Federal Trust Funds and the Politics of Commitment
(2000).

78
. Nelson D. Schwartz, “Partisan Impasse Drives Industry to Cut Spending,”
New York Times
, August 6, 2012; Rebecca Berg, “Fear of Year-End Fiscal Stalemate May Be Having Effect Now,”
New York Times
, July 12, 2012.

79
. Rob Portman, “The Regulatory Cliff Is Nearly as Steep as the Fiscal One,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 17, 2012.

80
. See, e.g., Reed Abelson & Katie Thomas, “Sense of Peril for Health Law Gives Insurers Pause,”
New York Times
, March 30, 2012.

81
.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
, 132 S. Ct. 2566 (2012).

82
. Abby Goodnough et al., “Opening Rush to Insurance Markets Hits Snags,”
New
York Times
, October 2, 2013.

83
. See, e.g., Robert Pear, “Uncertainty over States and Medicaid Expansion,”
New York Times
, June 28, 2102.

84
. Steven Greenhouse & Jonathan Martin, “Unions’ Misgivings on Health Law Burst into View,”
New York Times
, September 12, 2013.

85
. Laura Meckler, Jennifer Corbett Dooren, & Peter Nicholas, “U.S. Struggles to Meet Health-Law Deadline,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 10, 2013.

86
. Kim Dixon & Patrick Temple-West, “IRS Issues Final Rules on Obamacare’s ‘Individual Mandate,’ ”
Reuters
, August 27, 2013.

87
. “Promises, Promises,”
Economist
, April 20, 2013, 34; John Harwood, “Next Big Challenge for Health Law: Carrying It Out,”
New York Times
, April 30, 2013.

88
. Jackie Calmes & Robert Pear, “Crucial Rule Is Delayed a Year for Obama’s Health Law,”
New York Times
, July 3, 2013.

89
. David Morgan, “ ‘Obamacare’ Mandate Delay Will Cost $12 Billion, Affect 1 Million Workers,”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/30/us-usa-healthcare-employers-idUSBRE96T1DI20130730
.