A Theory (on Bullshit Jobs)
With help from readers who wrote to him about their workplace experiences, anthropologist David Graeber develops a taxonomy of bullshit jobs.
Bureaucracy
How to Undrain an Actual Swamp
Why big, boring bureaucracy is the best tool for restoring wetlands around the Bay Area.
How Many Government Reports About Drugs Do We Really Need?
In the past two years, government agencies have produced at least four reports about drug use in America, totaling more than 800 pages. Have they done any good?
Shelf Help: 'The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy'
Is oversimplification really the solution?
A Struggle to Check the Seafloor Around California's Oil Spill
Any oil that would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean is out of sight—but officials shouldn't put it out of mind.
Endangered Species Act Candidates Getting Prioritized
The Byzantine legal process of placing plants and animals on America's endangered species list swallows the efforts of the agency that curates the list. A new agreement may untangle the mess.
The Magic of Re-reinventing Government
Before the ideological war over entitlement reform begins, Congress should look to the ways technology can reduce the cost of government. All trillion of them.