On Twitter, I follow the official Twitter channel of the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev (KremlinRussia_E). This morning I received the following series of tweets about forthcoming administrative staff reductions in Russian government:

• Ordered the administration and government to prepare a forecast of civil service reductions in the next few years http://krln.ru/f9n4
• First of all we must determine how many civil servants are needed to carry out their tasks effectively.
• Preliminary plans call for a 20% reduction in the state administrative staff. These cuts are necessary, but they must be well thought-out.

This inspires me to ask why the hell must the United States continue the unabated expansion of government and its associated drag on the economy when other countries are embarking on austerity programs in the face of what is perceived to be a lasting worldwide economic lean period?

Come on, people! If even the great bureaucracy of Russia is going to shrink, what are we waiting for?

Elsewhere, they’re seeing the light. Here, we’ve either forgotten or chosen to ignore some very fundamental macroeconomic principles. If it weren’t so scary and economically consequential to the rest of the world, our governmental profligacy would be the laughingstock of the planet.