Bureaucratic Quote by Elliott Liu
““The new economy also generated a bloated bureaucratic class. The number of state functionaries employed by the government rose from 720,000 in 1949, to 3.3 million in 1952, to 8.09 million in 1957.21 In Shanghai, the number of workers of all kinds grew by 1.2 percent from 1949 to 1957, while government staff grew by 16 percent.””
About This Quote
Source Article: Economic History of Shanghai, 2021
Rapid bureaucratic expansion outpaced overall workforce growth, creating a disproportionate administrative class.
In simple terms: Government staff grew faster than total workers.
Watch bureaucratic bloat.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- government planning
- public sector hiring
- economic forecasting
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What are the costs of an oversized bureaucracy?
- How can balance be restored?
Bureaucratic growth can reduce efficiency.