Extended examinations of how institutions behave over a decade: budgets, headcount, capability, and the quiet erosion or recovery of state capacity. Sources are audit offices, statistical agencies and comparative studies. Intended for policy researchers, funders and senior officials who need trend evidence rather than a weekly snapshot.
Congress has debated infrastructure permitting for over ten years and legislated once, narrowly — because the honest trade is faster approvals for less litigation, and each party wants only half.
Christopher Lee · March 4, 2026
Legacy system replacements overrun for structural reasons — the old system is the only documentation, the data is dirty, and nobody can turn it off until the replacement works.
Christopher Lee · February 9, 2026
Executive-order cost caps cut rule volume in year one, produced billions in claimed savings — and the evidence for durable reduction beyond the first year is thin.
Christopher Lee · January 17, 2026