March 26, 2004

Government Failure

The Transportation Security Administration is yet another example of inefficient government:

About one-quarter of the nation's commercial airports no longer want government employees screening passengers and baggage, preferring private companies working under federal supervision, a congressman said Thursday.
Airport directors are upset with the Transportation Security Administration's inability to adjust staffing to meet demand, which results in long waits at some airports, said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.

He said he had met with more than a dozen airport directors from around the country.

Concerns about long lines at airports were underscored by a Federal Aviation Administration report released Thursday that said domestic flights are expected to increase 4.8% this year.

Some large airports, such as those in Orlando, and Los Angeles, have only 80% of the screeners they need, while some small airports have far too many.

"It appears it's almost impossible for the TSA to micromanage staff and deal with schedule changes and fluctuations in traffic at all 429 (commercial) airports," Mica said.

Congress created the TSA after the Sept. 11 attacks and ordered it to replace the privately employed screeners with a better-paid, better-trained federal work force. But lawmakers also gave airports the option of returning to private screeners on Nov. 19, three years after President Bush signed the bill into law.

Mica said he expects more than 100 will take that option this fall.

The government is failing to effectively use scare resources because it doesn't have an incentive to economize. The only way a private business can make a profit is by taking in more money than it spends. To use a little bit of economic jargon, they try to maximize revenues while minimizing costs. If a private firm fails to at least balance out revenues with costs then it will cease to exist. Government, on the other hand, has no profit motive. The ultimate incentive is that politicians want to be re-elected. One way to do that is to appear to "do something" to solve a problem no matter how economically unsound it is. No conspiracy is needed. Blame doesn't have to be put on idiot bureaucrats. It's just a matter of incentives and not having the ability to collect and digest time and place-specific information. It's similar to why the Soviet Union's economy collapsed.

Finally, let me toot my horn and quote what I wrote almost two years ago:

Airport security was passed only for Congress and the President to demonstrate that they were doing something about airline security. They made no case that a properly monitored collection of private firms couldn't do the job better. (Europe contracts security out to private companies.) So now, we're stuck with nationalized airport security with all its bloat and inefficiency.

I told you so.

"Some Airports Fed up with TSA, Want Private Screeners" [via Heritage Policy Weblog]