This tracks well with a report I heard this week on declining mean salaries in the federal government versus industry. As the government pays less, has declining pensions, and is under constant threat of &quot;shutdown&quot; it isn&#x27;t surprising that the best people would rather look elsewhere. That doesn&#x27;t even factor in people choosing not to work for the government for political and moral reasons.<p>Sadly, this means that the bureaucracy will increase and become more petty. People will become more concerned about protecting their jobs and less about doing them well. Because, government work on a resume will become a &quot;bad smell&quot; making it hard for government workers to find a job in the private sector. Who wants to hire someone with a fake PhD? Only the government.