Economics
The Principal–Agent Problem in Bureaucratic Oversight
Quick fact
In the U.S. Congress, lawmakers often pass laws that are deliberately vague, giving agencies discretion and making oversight extremely difficult — a built-in tension of the principal–agent problem.
Why this is interesting
You hire a contractor to fix your house — but you can’t watch them all day. Would they cut corners to finish faster and still charge you the same? Bureaucracies face exactly this problem on a national scale.