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12:06AM

The "technocracy boom" reflects a more complex era

NYT’s David Brooks on what he’s calling the “technocracy boom,” or the double-whammy intrusion of government in national security beyond the normal boundaries (the whole Priest-Arkin series in WAPO) since 9/11 (blame it on Bush-Cheney) and in the economy since the financial crisis began (blame it on Obama-Biden). In sum, just a ginormous growth in government activity that assumes all this expertise is usefully applied and not a similarly huge waste of resources.

Yes, it’s unfair for Obama to take the bulk of the heat for the twin developments, but politics is all about timing and timing is often a matter of luck—good and bad.

Still, hard to argue against our government getting smarter in this increasingly complicated age.

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Reader Comments (1)

No argument for the need for people to get smarter.

Who will be making the decisions? Will it lead to power being more centralized or decentralized?

Seems like the technocracy concept provides an opportunity to streamline the system/process which if done right (unlikely), would help distribute power among more stakeholders.

August 2, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterTim

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