Decades-old legislation, like the Goldwater-Nichols Act and Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA), emphasize a “one-size-fits-all” mentality that no longer suits the Defense Department’s needs — and the military and civilian employees who support its mission.

When I posted last week about monetary economist Bill Poole's incorrect claim that the Fed Reserve sets the Federal Funds rate, a number of commenters objected that my claim was trivial. Most argued that Poole's usage was close enough to being correct because the Fed can so accurately hit its target.

The Fed does set the federal-funds rate--the overnight interest banks charge to lend to each other--and surely affects the timing of rate changes, but not the longer-run level.

My friend and Hoover colleague John Cochrane has signed a letter to four members of Congress that calls on Congress to spend more money on getting better economic data.