The Last Mile Problem

 I've used this term before, writing about government.  A slightly different focus this time: local government, schools, libraries, etc.

In theory these days there's lots more data available, in that data is mostly digital and most digital data can be accessed.  In the case of Ipswich, MA the 21st century has seen a gap develop:  in the 20th century the town published a "Town Report", a big volume containing a series of annual reports by each individual unit of town government, and there were a lot of them.  In the 20th century there were local newspapers which would run stories on important local issues, interviews with candidates for local office, etc.

Now in the 21st century the Town Report is no more; there's a website.  The newspapers are now online and much slimmed down.  The town has a website and a Facebook page.  Someone curious and adept can search out a lot of information, sometimes by links to reports by Massachusetts agencies, or from what seems to be a outfit providing business services.  But for the average citizen it's all confusing: just a lot of web pages and reports.

In other words there's no human intermediary, no institution which has developed over the ages to interpret the work of government for the average citizen.  Why is that:

• the leadership elite doesn't realize that the gap has resulted as the internet has evolved
• citizens usually don't have a driving interest in local government so aren't motivated to do research nor have they grown up with the internet so are lacking some tools to deal with the gap
• it's easy for bureaucrats to delegate the communication responsibility to others: in the past the news reporters, now the techies who are doing the websites, etc. 
• the result is there's no institution which has evolved over time to torture bureaucrats and make their living by interpreting data for citizens.

Progress in Medicine

 Reading a biography of Lady Bird Johnson.  LBJ had gall bladder surgery, meaning an "enormous scar" which he showed off to the media and almost 2 weeks in the hospital.

My wife had surgery maybe 15 years ago, laparoscopic, and three days in the hospital (one pre-op because it wasn't scheduled), and today apparently it can be out-patient.

Four Feet Eight and One-Half

I saw a reference to this issue last week in connection with moving military supplies into Ukraine.  IIRC there might have been a military rationale for having different track gauges (distance between rails) between countries--making it impossible for an armored train or supply trains to cross borders as part of an invasion.

Here's a quote from a Politico piece on the nominee for NATO command:

He has also thrown himself into more intricate issues such as launching studies of railroad gauges and transportation infrastructure in Eastern Europe, which often still use Warsaw Pact standards, in an effort to smooth the movement of NATO troops and materiel.

Different gauges were a big problem in the early days of railroading, including during the Civil War. 

First Toilet Paper, Now Infant Formula?

 Saw a tweet suggesting that people who are scared by the shortages in formula are stocking up whenever they can.  That repeats an old pattern we saw in the 70's during the oil embargos where you'd try to fill your tank when it got down to half full; also the pattern during the early days of the pandemic where people stocked up on toilet paper. Such behavior in panics is selfish, and all too human.  I challenge anyone to do differently. 

USDA and Rural Development

 Politico has a piece on USDA's challenges with rural development. Some excerpts:

“We were in the community earlier today of 130 people,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview last month as he toured the Delta region of Mississippi. “The mayor had zero full-time employees. There is no way that community could ever qualify or ever know how to qualify. Those are the communities we need to help.” 

The Agriculture Department oversees the largest set of programs focused on rural communities — roughly 40 — but there are more than 400 programs operating across the federal government

The wide swath of programs and the influx of money from Congress is intensifying long-standing concerns about how well federal money to help rural communities is getting to its intended recipients. In response, the White House has tasked the Agriculture Department with coordinating a pilot program, the Rural Partners Network, to help ensure the funding reaches the poorest and most underserved communities in the country. It is launching in five states and with three Native American tribes this spring to start, with plans to expand to another five, as well as Native Alaskan communities, in August.

 Rural Development staffing, specifically, has decreased by a third over the last decade, while their portfolio of responsibilities has increased by 80 percent, according to Justin Maxson, deputy undersecretary for rural development. In addition, 47 percent of Rural Development staff are eligible to retire.

This is Not Invented Here run rampant. Why do we have so many rural development programs--because everyone, in Congress and think tanks, everyone, thinks they have a better idea than what exists. So instead of modifying and improving an existing program, the incentive is to add a brand spanking new program you can boast to your constituents about, hopefully get reelected. 

Ignore the fact that it will taken the bureaucracy time to get up to speed on the program, even with the dubious assumption that what you've written into law makes some sort of sense.  So over decades of Congress doing their NIH thing,  the poor bureaucrat has to try to understand 40 programs, most of which, like ships, have attracted barnacles of interpretation.  And remember, the more time spent in trying to understand 40 programs means less time getting out and explaining them to the part-time unpaid mayor of a town with no stoplight, and helping her complete the forms and follow the process, much less implement a successful grant in the way Congress envisioned, long ago and far away.

So after years of this, and multiple attempts to reform and restructure the bureaucracy we come up with a new idea.  We need a new bureaucracy--the old one is too old, tired, disillusioned, and waiting to retire.  So instead of fixing those problems we'll create a new structure, where we can start from scratch and do it right.  We'll call it a pilot program--if it works we can expand it. Will we, the sponsors be around years later to assess its results and kill it, fix it, or expand it? 

ROTFLMAO

 

The End of Footbinding in Chinese Culture

 In the past I've commented on Prof. Kwame Appiah's book on Moral Revolutions, which includes a chapter on the end of footbinding in mainland China.  He argued that footbinding was a status symbol (Veblen would agree) which became tarnished as "old-fashioned" and not modern in the early 20th century when modernization was very important in China. So women with bound feet lost their value in marriage, so binding ended quickly-a revolution in morals.

Made sense to me.  Had some resonance because my aunt and uncle worked for the YMCA in China during that time. Among the things they brought back were pairs of sandals/shoes for bound feet.

But I ran across this paper, with this abstract:

We analyze the economic motives for the sudden demise in foot-binding, a self-harming custom widely practiced by Chinese females for centuries. We use newly-discovered Taiwanese data to estimate the extent to which females unbound their feet in response to the rapid growth in sugarcane cultivation in the early 20th century, growth which significantly boosted the demand for female labor. We find that cane cultivation significantly induced unbinding, with the IV estimations utilizing cane railroads – lines built exclusively for cane transportation – support a causal interpretation of the estimated effect. This finding implies that increased female employment opportunities can help eliminate norms that are harmful for females. Further analysis suggests that the need for human capital improvement was more likely to have driven the effects of cane cultivation, rather than the increased intra-household bargaining power for females.

Sounds as if the economists have an entirely different perspective. Since the paper text isn't freely available, I can't evaluate it.  But intuitively it makes sense that upper class/leisure class women would have their feet bound. 

Farmland Preservation

 Modern Farmer has an upbeat review of an early farmland preservation initiative on Long Island, dating to 1974.  Farmers sell off the development rights to their land, getting lower assessment and lower taxes.

It sounds good, but I wonder about the economics.  There's reference to a 23 acre farm. It may have been growing potatoes in the 1970's; Long Island's glacial soil was great for potatoes. But with changing farming economics and inflation, I'm guessing today's farmer needs to switch to vegetables and specialty crops to make things work.  Perhaps tomorrow the land will grow greenhouse or vertical farming.  How long can the deal last?

Ethnicity/Racial Data

 ASCS/FSA has had a history of trying to identify its producers as to their race and/or ethnicity.  It seems to me the problem is you can't require citizens to say what they are or consider themselves to be; you can't except for the Census Bureau.

According to this FEMA may be required to collect such data, if the new law passes. As there's more and more written about the disparate impacts of various programs agencies face that problem more.  IMO simply asking, whether orally or by form, is offputting--most Americans I suspect would react: what the hell business is it of yours? So you end up with correct information grudgingly given and an annoyed citizen, or incorrect information, or blank, which puts you into the position of eyeballing.

Packing Eggs in Modern Ireland

In the last century we packed eggs by hand. Now it's different. (Also, tractors have power steering.)

 

Check out Noel and Kate operating our newish packing machine. After 16 years of packing by hand we invested in a more efficient way to pack leaving more time to concentrate on bird welfare and farm managementper. ⁦@butlersorganics⁩ #LEAN #farmlife #eggs #organic #shopready pic.twitter.com/m5HN3bprMn

— IrelandsFarmers (@IrelandsFarmers) May 7, 2022

The Complexities of Cotton

 Virginia Postrel has a substack article, touching on changes in cotton production from 1920s (her grandfather was in the trade) to now. 

I commented on a couple aspects.