The expenses of MPs about which the public is expressing renewed anger were classic examples of the 'producer interest' in which employees in any organisation tend to start thinking of their own advantage to the disaadvantge of those they serve. (See previous posting.) When people can feather their nests, they often will. That is human nature unless there is a counteracting force such as the need to make a profit in a business, powerful peer pressure or a moral upbringing that would be unusual in modern Britain.

The worst of the nest-feathering, though, among MPs perhaps does not consist of the expenses. It consists of their pension arrangments.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Waste in public services

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