By trying to running the state like a private business, Elon Musk and other anti-government types are creating a mess that someone else will have to clean up. Governments and businesses serve vastly different purposes, answer to different constituencies, and operate on entirely different timelines.
LONDON – Around the world, governments are trying to reinvent themselves in the image of business. Elon Musk’s DOGE crusade in the United States is quite explicit on this point, as is Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding president, Javier Milei. But one also hears similar rhetoric in the United Kingdom, where Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden wants the government to foster a “test-and-learn” culture and move toward performance-based management.
LONDON – Around the world, governments are trying to reinvent themselves in the image of business. Elon Musk’s DOGE crusade in the United States is quite explicit on this point, as is Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding president, Javier Milei. But one also hears similar rhetoric in the United Kingdom, where Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden wants the government to foster a “test-and-learn” culture and move toward performance-based management.