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The John Batchelor Show

#DOGE:DOWN TO SIZE. RICHARD EPSTEIN, CIVITAS INSTITUTE.

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, Society & Culture, News, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#DOGE:DOWN TO SIZE. RICHARD EPSTEIN, CIVITAS INSTITUTE.
1972: WATERGATE: BANKING COMMITTEE.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The weather. Tomorrow, expect a biting cold front. Hmm, how naughty. I wonder what I'll be

0:06.8

wearing or taking off. The night will be wild and untamed. Expect heavy, lashing rain

0:13.0

that'll soak you to the skin. By Monday, temperatures will rise slowly but surely reaching

0:18.7

their peak in the afternoon. Not in the mood for miserable weather?

0:22.6

Fly cheaply to Turkey with Sun Express.

0:25.6

Sun Express, nonstop sunshine.

0:28.6

Welcome my colleague, Professor Richard Epstein,

0:32.6

writing at the Civitas Institute as well,

0:36.6

teaching law at University of Chicago and NYU.

0:41.1

We turn to Doge, DOGE, and this from Reuters in these last hours.

0:48.3

Nearly 100 days into what President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk have called a mission to make the federal

0:55.4

bureaucracy more efficient.

0:57.9

Reuters found 20 instances of where the staff and funding cuts led to purchasing bottlenecks

1:04.0

and increased costs, paralysis and decision-making, longer public wait times, higher-paid civil

1:10.7

servants filling in menial jobs,

1:13.1

and a brain drain of scientific and technological talent.

1:18.1

Richard, that's enough.

1:19.8

We understand that Doge is now making various claims of what they've saved the federal

1:25.0

government, ranging from $150 billion up to more than that.

1:30.6

Let's put it that way.

1:31.9

Certainly well short of the $2 trillion initially claimed, and then the $1 trillion subsequently claimed when Doge started.

1:40.7

This is a disappointment to Musk fans, but at the same time it's a learning experience if doge is

...

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