The World Is Drowning in Sludge

Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. Where does all this sludge come from — and how much is it costing us?

I recently got a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles, saying it’s time to renew my driver’s license. This is a letter that no one looks forward to receiving, as the D.M.V. can be famously hard to deal with — long lines, confusing protocols, etc. But as I read the letter, I saw that there was a loophole: If you’re a member of the American Automobile Association, which I happen to be, then you can renew your license at their office — and, even better, you can set up an appointment ahead of time! So: I made my appointment online, put it in my calendar; got all my documents together; I showed up on the right day, at the right time — and found, to my surprise, a long line of people waiting for what looked to be two or three clerks. I asked a couple people on line what time their appointments were for, and they said they didn’t have appointments; they had just walked in. And so, being an optimist, I thought, maybe there’s a separate line for appointments? I asked around, and a helpful AAA employee told me that, no, “the line is the line.” I asked how long he expected the line to take. “Oh, probably just two hours, maybe three.”

I had pictured myself buzzing in with my appointment and being done in 15 minutes, maybe 30; even an hour would have been okay. But two hours, or three — that, I could not swing. So the next time you hear about a guy being arrested for driving with an expired license — that will be me.

What happened at AAA surprised me especially because after I’d made my appointment, I received a couple emails confirming it, and asking me to let them know if I’d be late. So I really thought I had an “appointment,” the way the word is commonly used. But I realize now that their definition and mine were not the same.

Either that or I had simply run into a situation where a seemingly simple thing is made complicated, or slow, or frustrating.

Has this sort of thing ever happened to you? Of course it has. It happens all the time, and it comes in many flavors.

For instance: When it takes 30 seconds to sign up for some subscription service, and forever to cancel it.

Or when you fill out some massive government form online, but one data field won’t accept your answer, and when you try to hit “submit,” the whole thing freezes.

Or when your insurance company sends you a menu of healthcare plans, and you literally cannot understand the difference between the options, or how much they’ll cost.

There is a word for this kind of thing: Sludge.

When something is made easier to do, that’s called a nudge. When it’s made harder? That is sludge. It is no coincidence that these words rhyme; as we’ll hear later, they come from the same person. But where does sludge come from? Is it the inevitable residue of bureaucracy? Does it come from a lack of effort, or maybe sheer incompetence? Is sludge ever a strategic maneuver? On this week's episode of Freakonomics Radio, we try to answer all those questions, as we begin a two-part series on sludge. Did we really need two episodes? We did, because sludge is everywhere, and it’s time to fight back.

You can hear this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio, “Sludge, Part 1: The World Is Drowning in It,” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A full transcript is available on our website.

Also on the Freakonomics Radio Network this week

People I (Mostly) Admire: We’re Not Getting Sicker — We’re Overdiagnosed

Suzanne O’Sullivan is a neurologist who sees many patients with psychosomatic disorders. Their symptoms may be psychological in origin, but their pain is real and physical — and the way we practice medicine, she argues, is making those and other health problems worse.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | transcript

The Economics of Everyday Things: Executive Recruiters

When a Fortune 500 company needs a new leader, it turns to a well-connected headhunter who assesses candidates with psychological tests and mock TV interviews. Zachary Crockett activates his network.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | transcript