Saw the movie Public Enemies (wife's favorite Johnny Depp as lead) about John Dillinger yesterday. It's good, not as good in my opinion as Collateral, also directed by Michael Mann. One thing Dillinger says, in explaining why he can rob banks: "they (the authorities) have to watch every bank, I only have to hit one" or something close.
I thought of that in watching the ABC news last night, which led with a Senate committee hearing on a GAO report on how easy it was to smuggle into Federal buildings the materials necessary to make a small bomb.
Generally speaking, I think worries about security are overdone. Security details for mayors and governors? How many have been assassinated? Security for USDA buildings? I remember one incident in the South Building of USDA; if I recall correctly it was domestic violence, certainly not terrorism directed at the hard working bureaucrats of Agdom.
We used to have typewriters walk out of the buildings. But I wonder how many typewriters are left in the department. We used to have to account for calculators. But Moore's law took care of that. I suppose they still have to account for PC's, and security could deter their theft. But Moore's law will take care of that as well, as everyone will have his or her own personal electronics implanted at birth.
I wonder whether an economist has studied the evolution of loot for robbers/burglars: does minaturization increase the availability of high-profit loot (no one could steal a mainframe computer) or does Moore's law wipe out such loot? Do the two forces counterbalance?
But, having security makes people feel better, and that's important.
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