An Efficiency Commission Led by Elon Musk Would Be Good for the Government
During his campaign, former President Donald Trump has proposed his share of bad policy ideas, such as a 20 percent tariff across the board. But tasking Elon Musk with heading a commission to make the government more efficient is one worth considering. In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Trump said this commission will conduct “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.”
Efficiency is subjective. Some people believe that empowering the IRS with more powers to collect more taxes is efficient. Some believe that efficiency means putting an end to waste, fraud, and abuse. I have a more extensive definition. Yes, an efficient federal government would be free of fraud and abuse, but it also wouldn’t subsidize private sector activities like exports, manufacturing, green energy, or any other sectors, for that matter.
Nor would an efficient federal government subsidize state governments for activities that are not federal in nature. Chris Edwards at the Cato Institute reports that in 2019, $721 billion went from Washington, D.C., to the states for activities that states themselves should oversee, like transportation and education. That number exploded during the pandemic. As Edwards shows, such “grants-in-aid” programs produce irresponsible policymaking as they misallocate resources and undermine accountability and democratic control. Oh, and they also produce larger deficits.
Trump’s definition of efficiency is narrower. He said: “As a first order of business, this commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months. This will save trillions of dollars. Trillions.”
Trillions? I doubt it. You can’t balance the budget on the back of fraud and improper payments alone. But ending this waste is the least that government officials should do. As such, a commission stepping in where our delinquent legislators are asleep on the job is welcomed.
According to the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) l
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