How the government wastes our time

Journalist Annie Lowrey, a staff writer at The Atlantic, joined Fresh Air's Tonya Mosley to discuss her new book, "The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time and How to Fix It." Lowrey argues that the hours Americans spend navigating government bureaucracy – filling out forms, making phone calls, and waiting in lines – constitute a hidden tax that disproportionately affects the most vulnerable populations.

The Time Tax: An Unavoidable Fact of Life or a Deliberate Burden?

Tonya Mosley opened the conversation by highlighting the pervasive nature of waiting in modern life, from filling out government forms to waiting at the DMV or pharmacy. Annie Lowrey coined this phenomenon the "time tax," defining it as the hours lost to paperwork, phone calls, appointments, and lines when trying to obtain benefits or exercise guaranteed rights. Lowrey asserts that this isn't merely bureaucratic dysfunction; sometimes, making a system difficult is the deliberate point. She emphasizes that those most affected are often individuals with the least amount of time and fewest resources, such as the poor, the sick, and the disabled.

Lowrey shared a personal anecdote from her early career as a reporter in Washington D.C., where she encountered homeless veterans struggling to access their benefits. Despite the existence of the VA and an entire government department dedicated to veterans, these individuals couldn't navigate the system due to the overwhelming stresses of their daily lives, including homelessness, food insecurity, and psychiatric issues. This experience, she explained, was a pivotal moment in understanding how administrative burdens impact real people. She noted that once you start looking for these administrative burdens, you see them everywhere, from the DMV to the IRS.