4 ms·

> This is a great example of the government being inefficient at getting things done. I don't see any reason that "being government" had anything to do with th

• V-2 11y ago
  I don't know whether this was the case here, but in general governments are more likely (in compare to private entities) to award contracts to incompetent contractors. Case in point: http://inside-poland.com/t/polands-election-software-open-to-hackers/ http://inside-poland.com/t/polands-election-software-open-to... Basically, with state bureaucracies and government procurements - politics, various forms of corruption and other non-merithorical factors can often affect the outcome. Because it's taxpayer's money that's getting spent.
  • jakub_g 11y ago
    I'd argue that often it's also like this: 1) incompetence => ill-defined requirements; 2) being afraid of corruption accusations if non-cheapest option wins => cheapest offer wins if it matches the ill-defined spec, regardless of any other factors. The "cheapest offer wins" is (IMO) in general not how private companies work, but very often how governmental bodies work. The clerks have nothing to gain for choosing the right option, but potentially a lot to lose.
    • TeMPOraL 11y ago
      > The "cheapest offer wins" is (IMO) in general not how private companies work. I'd disagree with that assessment - "cheapest offer wins" is pretty much the way private companies work as well any time they can get away with it. See: procurement in any mid-to-large company, or the whole stereotype of "made in China = sucks" when it's not the fault of Chinese factories, but of companies that want to pay as little as possible for manufacturing (if they'd pay for quality production, they'd get quality products even from China). Private companies can be as inefficient as public institutions, but it isn't talked about since they're usually wasting just their own (and their customers') money.
      • creshal 11y ago
        Another example: The "Nobody was ever fired for buying IBM" mantra.
    • Retra 11y ago
      In the US, many government bodies are bound by law to choose the cheapest option, precisely because doing otherwise would either appear to be inefficient or favoritism.
  • creshal 11y ago
    That's no different from the decision making process in any sufficiently large private company.
    • programmarchy 11y ago
      Most "private" corporations are only so large because their inefficiencies are subsidized by the state. [1] [1] https://c4ss.org/content/18100 https://c4ss.org/content/18100
  • sdenton4 11y ago
    Governments go with contractors due to a multi-decade effort by the economic right to promote the idea that government is less efficient than the private sector, providing strong political incentives for downsizing actual government departments. Turns out private companies are at least as incompetent...
    • V-2 11y ago
      Governments themselves are the worst, as someone from the former Eastern Bloc I know what I'm talking about...