--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I worry policymakers are not putting…" description: "\"I worry policymakers are not putting enough attention on what we should be planning for 10 years down the road. In general, governments aren't necessar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/jeff-dean-10577_attention_i-worry-policymakers-are-not-putting-eno_2626607.jpg" --- # I worry policymakers are not putting enough attention on… ![“I worry policymakers are not putting enough attention on what we should be planning for 10 years down the road. In general, governments aren't necessarily that good at looking down the road when it is a difficult issue.” quote by Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/jeff-dean-10577_attention_i-worry-policymakers-are-not-putting-eno_2626607.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/jeff-dean-10577_attention_i-worry-policymakers-are-not-putting-eno_2626607.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/jeff-dean-10577_attention_i-worry-policymakers-are-not-putting-eno_2626607.jpg) > “I worry policymakers are not putting enough attention on what we should be planning for 10 years down the road. In general, governments aren't necessarily that good at looking down the road when it is a difficult issue.” [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Policymakers often neglect long‑term strategic foresight, especially for complex issues. **In simple terms:** Governments lack long‑term planning. Key Takeaway Prioritize long‑term scenario analysis. Themes policy future planning governance Mood concerned analytical Type advisory critical When to use this quote - national budgeting - infrastructure projects - climate policy - technology regulation Key Concepts strategic foresight risk management Questions to Reflect On - How can governments institutionalize long‑term planning? - What mechanisms ensure accountability over decades? A Different Perspective Short‑term political cycles can override long‑term needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [Governments aren't going to go away; banks aren't going to go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-garlinghouse/governments-aren-t-going-to-go-away-banks-aren-t-going-to-go-away/) [Brad Garlinghouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-garlinghouse/) > [There's a very good reason that governments aren't supposed to compete with private-enterprise companies. Governments have monopolies on certain things, like eminent domain and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/there-s-a-very-good-reason-that-governments-aren-t-supposed-to/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [It is not a campaign. It is a rebellion. We are in active rebellion against our government. The social contract is broken, the governments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-bradbrook/it-is-not-a-campaign-it-is-a-rebellion-we-are-in-active-rebellion/) [Gail Bradbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-bradbrook/) > [It's important to engage with governments around the world in how they're thinking about AI - to help inform them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/it-s-important-to-engage-with-governments-around-the-world-in-how/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [The main thing that endears the United Nations to member governments, and so enables it to survive, is its proven capacity to fail, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-cruise-o-brien/the-main-thing-that-endears-the-united-nations-to-member-governments/) [Conor Cruise O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-cruise-o-brien/) > [The claim of the State Socialists, however, that this right would not be exercised in matters pertaining to the individual in the more intimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-claim-of-the-state-socialists-however-that-this-right-would-not/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [I think it true that, you know, sometimes things start to change even before a government changes and, actually, I think you can begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/i-think-it-true-that-you-know-sometimes-things-start-to-change-even/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [The greatest of all crimes are the wars that are carried on by governments, to plunder, enslave, and destroy mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/the-greatest-of-all-crimes-are-the-wars-that-are-carried-on-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The governments are seen to be less effective than they used to be. The private sector is perceived as being so much more efficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-robinson/the-governments-are-seen-to-be-less-effective-than-they-used-to-be/) [Mary Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-robinson/) > [If we do not adhere firmly to the constitution, our governments will not last long and will change frequently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suharto/if-we-do-not-adhere-firmly-to-the-constitution-our-governments-will/) [Suharto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suharto/) > [Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/governments-regard-their-own-citizens-as-their-main-enemy-and-they/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Local and state governments have outrun the federal government. The EPA has served notice that it will enact a rule requiring CO2 reductions by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/local-and-state-governments-have-outrun-the-federal-government-the/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Governments follow their people. A great deal has to do with the vision of the leadership of governments. They have a vision, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-khurshid/governments-follow-their-people-a-great-deal-has-to-do-with-the/) [Salman Khurshid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-khurshid/) ## More by Jeff Dean > [People in my organization were very outspoken about what we should be doing with the Department of Defense. One of them is work on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/people-in-my-organization-were-very-outspoken-about-what-we-should-be/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [Vision I think is going to be an important input. Like, if you're using Google Glass, it's going to be able to look around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/vision-i-think-is-going-to-be-an-important-input-like-if-you-re-using/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [We have a lot of work to do to get really important useful capabilities into people's hands - self-driving cars are going to save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/we-have-a-lot-of-work-to-do-to-get-really-important-useful/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [I think really what cloud customers care about is, can they get their problem solved on any particular provider's cloud products?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/i-think-really-what-cloud-customers-care-about-is-can-they-get-their/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [Machine learning is a new way of creating problem solving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/machine-learning-is-a-new-way-of-creating-problem-solving/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [I think there are sometimes issues with - no matter where you put a conference, there's always going to be constraints on that. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/i-think-there-are-sometimes-issues-with-no-matter-where-you-put-a/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [The things that I really enjoy doing are finding interesting problems and working together with colleagues to figure out how we can solve them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/the-things-that-i-really-enjoy-doing-are-finding-interesting-problems/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [The idea behind reinforcement learning is you don't necessarily know the actions you might take, so you explore the sequence of actions you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/the-idea-behind-reinforcement-learning-is-you-don-t-necessarily-know/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [I tend to be very impatient, thinking about all the ways we can do something, my mind and hands spinning at a very fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/i-tend-to-be-very-impatient-thinking-about-all-the-ways-we-can-do/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [It's important to engage with governments around the world in how they're thinking about AI - to help inform them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/it-s-important-to-engage-with-governments-around-the-world-in-how/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [Supervised learning works so well when you have the right data set, but ultimately unsupervised learning is going to be a really important component…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/supervised-learning-works-so-well-when-you-have-the-right-data-set/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [I like working in small teams where people on the team have very different skills than what I have and that banter back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/i-like-working-in-small-teams-where-people-on-the-team-have-very/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [It would be great to have every engineer have at least some amount of knowledge of machine learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/it-would-be-great-to-have-every-engineer-have-at-least-some-amount-of/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [In a lot of these areas, from machine translation to search quality, you're always trying to balance what you can do computationally with each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/in-a-lot-of-these-areas-from-machine-translation-to-search-quality/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) > [Microsoft is in a lot of the same businesses that Google is in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dean/microsoft-is-in-a-lot-of-the-same-businesses-that-google-is-in/) [Jeff Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) [Explore all 64 Jeff Dean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dean/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I worry policymakers are not putting enough attention on what we should be planning for 10 years down the road. 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