The latest Business Week describes the efforts of 43-year-old Duke alum Jeffrey Zients, the federal government?s first ?chief performance officer,? to ?make government more effective and efficient by making it faster, smarter, and cheaper.?

Can he do it?

Policy experts from the right and left are skeptical Zients can make any substantial progress in his mission. They warn that the federal government?with 1.8 million employees and more than 10,000 computing systems?has become so big and complex that it’s nearly unmanageable.

Nearly? Let?s hope Zients has some familiarity with Mises? Human Action.