INTELLIGENCE FAILURES: AN ORGANIZATIONAL ECONOMICS PERSPECTIVE

Two recent failures of the United States intelligence system have led to thecreation of high-level investigative commissions. The failure to prevent theterrorist attacks of 9/11 prompted the creation of the 9/11 Commission, andthe mistaken belief that Saddam Hussein had retained weapons of massdestruction prompted the creation of the Weapons of Mass DestructionCommission. We use insights from organizational economics to analyse theprincipal organizational issues raised by these commissions.[...]