A cracking piece from @samfr.bsky.social, though I would add a fourth theory for the paralysis - that the technocrats are not good enough... 1/3 samf.substack.com/p/politics-v... - ThreadSky

markpackuk.bsky.social • 81 days ago

A cracking piece from @samfr.bsky.social, though I would add a fourth theory for the paralysis - that the technocrats are not good enough... 1/3
https://samf.substack.com/p/politics-vs-policy

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markpackuk.bsky.social•81 days ago

We wouldn't rate aeroplane designers whose plans failed because of gravity and then go round dissing gravity, so if technocrats come up with plans that don't work politically, perhaps the technocrats need to up their game and see that as a problem with their own plans? 2/3

markpackuk.bsky.social•81 days ago

That is of course a sweeping generalisation, but it's striking how rare policies such as independent central banks are - i.e. ones that positively embrace the reality of politics and find a way to work with that to get a better policy outcome. 3/3

brianhprobert.bsky.social•81 days ago

Years ago someone suggested an independent justice ministry that would manage sentencing and prison capacity to keep them in balance. Never heard about that again

tonythorne007.bsky.social•81 days ago

Not just technocrats. This generation of professionals seem to have lost their nerve and abandoned a responsibility for competence. Perhaps a reaction to the shocks of Brexit, austerity, COVID, a culture of sauve-qui-peut?

steve-wood.bsky.social•81 days ago

The problem with all these QuANGOs, Trusts, Academies, Agencies, and the like, is they give ministers a way out.
"Not my fault, Guv", Sack the CEO, replace with like and carry on.
First noticed it when Stephen Buyers, as Transport Sec, said railways were nothing to do with him.

simonwhiteley6.bsky.social•81 days ago

Former technocrat here. Designing a solution that has very low up front costs and risks, has a steady stream of wins, and requires no leadership time and reputational capital investment, is a level of challenge that no aircraft designer faces. Overcoming gravity is a doddle in comparison.

markpackuk.bsky.social•81 days ago

True, though aeroplane designers also have to deal with aerodynamics, cost, weather...

I'd agree that it is hard, even very hard, much of the time. The distinction, which I think is fair, is about the extent to which people accept those challenges as a necessary part of the problem you have to fix.

simonwhiteley6.bsky.social•81 days ago

The pace of change in aircraft design is much slower than is expected in public management. It is very incremental, a few percentage points here and there. Most politicians would see that as not worth the hassle.

simonwhiteley6.bsky.social•81 days ago

The only time in my career where I did satisfy those conditions was for a problem where it was easy to make the case that doing nothing was not sustainable, it happened to be a relative political backwater, and the upfront costs were modest relative to the total annual spend. Very unusual.

jimprescott.bsky.social•81 days ago

Absolutely.

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