If you want to really pull the thread on the Order of Operations thesis I recommend Cohen’s “Voices of Glasnot” which is a series of interviews with Gorbachev’s reformers at the height of their powers, pre-Collapse. Fascinating primary source material.
The author is certainly wrong about Yeltsin being afraid to use force. He used just enough to stay in power in 1993 and started the first Chechen war to quash the potential separatism. He didn’t win in Chechnya but it probably was enough to give other potential breakaway regions something to think about
What factual basis is there, at all, to for the proposition that the DOGE folks who are currently embedded in some agencies will achieve any efficiencies that outweigh the costs they’re imposing?
If you want to really pull the thread on the Order of Operations thesis I recommend Cohen’s “Voices of Glasnot” which is a series of interviews with Gorbachev’s reformers at the height of their powers, pre-Collapse. Fascinating primary source material.
The author is certainly wrong about Yeltsin being afraid to use force. He used just enough to stay in power in 1993 and started the first Chechen war to quash the potential separatism. He didn’t win in Chechnya but it probably was enough to give other potential breakaway regions something to think about
Gotta pick this up, fascinating stuff.
I'd be down for the book club if you end up running it!
What factual basis is there, at all, to for the proposition that the DOGE folks who are currently embedded in some agencies will achieve any efficiencies that outweigh the costs they’re imposing?
You make a good point about DOGE and the order of operations.
Did Elon spend five seconds thinking to himself,
“I need 100 people to meet all the requirements for a successful SpaceX launch. Wouldn’t it be more efficient though if we did that with 8 people?”
“Damn now that my staff is at 8 people, why are my rockets exploding and not launching on time”