Today the FAA began its sequester furloughs with a resulting rash of flight delays, especially in NYC and DC.

I became aware of the issue when a coworker was trapped in New York and we did not know when to expect him in the office.  Although he did eventually get a flight, the delay reduced productivity and delayed action on critical deliverables.

With the federal government’s sequester cuts designed to inflict as much pain on the American people as possible, so that Americans will accede to President Obama’s demands to increase tax rates on the wealthy even though such rate increases will result in lower revenue due to tax avoidance and malinvestment rewarded by the federal tax code (like more bond debt for our bankrupt cities) becoming even more pronounced.

Let me suggest an alternative.  Wherever you feel the pain of federal sequester cuts, consider that a sign that those functions should be privatized.  Obviously, the federal government does not have enough money to pay for that function.

Far from eliminating risk as promised by the government monopolizing what should be a private business enterprise based upon private property, the government’s underfunding of those functions increases our risk, because the federal government is unable to get the job done.

The irrational character of the cuts increases risk and will reduce economic productivity.  How can producers make long term plans when the government introduces arbitrary delays and the possibility of shortages as a hostage taking for increased tax rates?

The furlough of the air traffic controllers, as well as threatened cut backs to meat inspectors, demonstrate a risk management function that should not be in the government’s domain, and not just because the Obama Administration has demonstrated that it can not be trusted to effectively manage these risks.  Privatize, privatize, privatize!!  Reduce not only federal spending, but also the constraints that our federal government puts on our attempts in the private sector at economic recovery.