The Wisdom of Insider Crowds

OK, this article is not about a real prediction market, but it does give a glimpse into the perspectives of some people with private information the rest of us don't have about government agencies.  This is a Survey of (mostly) Federal Employees about whether taxpayers are getting a good return for their tax dollars - from the people who are handling or consuming those dollars.  I thought the article was also useful in giving a glimpse of some of the internal workings of federal agencies - even apart from the political perspectives of the agency careerists...

The answer is clear. 79% of those responding to our recent survey say "no" the taxpayer does not get a good return. Only 15% of readers responding answered "yes" to the question: "In general, do American taxpayers get a good return for their tax dollars from the federal government?" 6% answered they were "not sure."  The reasons for the negative response varied widely. The most common complaint cited by readers was pork inserted into spending bills by Congress and earmarks dictated by Congress for specific projects. The practice of earmarks is certainly leading to a decreasing confidence in government and has apparently generated rampant cynicism toward government spending and a negative view of Congress. Some readers cited problems within their agencies that were examples of how many is wasted. A few readers cited their agencies as ones where money was well spent.

As you read through the article, I liked seeing the Forest Service employee's reference to NEPA and Environmental Impact Statements (which seems to be missing from most Admin Law casebooks, but which I think is a huge factor in agency decisionmaking that students should know about).  The other most interest comment, I thought, was a VA employee's concern about money wasted on medical research.

There is also an interesting Survey of Agency Employees about the Presidential Candidates, which gives an interesting glimpse into the political preferences of agency insiders.

-Dru Stevenson