[Special Correspondent Report] The Crisis of the United States with Disappearing Government Competitiveness

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The most uncomfortable aspect of living in the United States is the backwardness of administrative processing. Koreans, accustomed to the speed and friendliness of public officials, find it impossible to understand or tolerate the level here.

Even before, the already slow administrative processing in the U.S. has reached an atrocious level after the COVID-19 pandemic. A representative example is vehicle-related services. Americans also despise the public officials at the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) the most. Unlike in Korea, the U.S. MVC handles licensing, vehicle registration, and various inspections all together. Since there is no resident registration card in the U.S., a driver's license serves as an ID. Due to inconvenient public transportation, owning a vehicle is essential. Americans have no choice but to visit the MVC frequently.

The problem is that MVC officials are 'anger triggers.' Even with unified standards, they often make different decisions based on their mood and the complainant, and frequently fail to provide proper answers. Due to high demand and slow processing, even arriving an hour before opening makes it difficult to complete tasks on the same day. They seize on the smallest mistakes to issue terrifying decisions demanding customers to bring back additional documents. It is also incomprehensible that qualifications are checked repeatedly at every stage of the driver's license test, not just once. The reporter also had to line up from early morning several times to obtain a license. By the time the test is over, MVC is about to close.

When the New Jersey MVC reopened after about four months recently, chaos ensued. Despite long lines of customers from early morning at MVCs across the state, officials operated as before. Expectations that something would have changed due to COVID-19 were shattered. Customers who lined up from dawn but could not complete their tasks criticized the media and state government.

Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey eventually intervened by significantly postponing vehicle registration and inspection schedules to manage the situation, and the MVC started issuing numbered tickets and accepting reservations, but public sentiment had already exploded. There was ample time to prepare, but the result was otherwise.

The U.S. has also been consistently behind in its COVID-19 response. If New York and New Jersey, the largest infection centers in the U.S. early in the pandemic, had prepared earlier, the current situation might have been avoided. Despite both being Democrats, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York and Mayor Bill de Blasio clashed on every issue, and their delayed response led to what is criticized as a 'great disaster.'

Past failures should become windows to the future. However, this is not the reality of the U.S. government. It is unlikely that both the federal and state governments will reorganize emergency administrative plans to fit the changed environment after COVID-19. Moreover, in the U.S., where the beneficiary pays principle is fundamental to the economy and administration, most local governments are facing severe budget shortages due to COVID-19. Survival concerns are more urgent than innovation and change.

The decline in U.S. government competitiveness is confirmed by various surveys. In June, the Swiss International Institute for Management Development (IMD) ranked the U.S. 10th in national competitiveness, a sharp drop from 3rd place last year. IMD attributed this to a decline in government competitiveness. After COVID-19, the U.S. faces challenges not only in health and economic recovery but also in healthcare insurance, protection of vulnerable groups, industrial structural changes, and reinvestment in social overhead capital. However, unless frontline public officials change, recovering the ranking seems difficult. This is the fundamental reason why the U.S., one of the two major powers (G2), is shaken despite companies leading innovation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.