5 ms·

On its face, some entities just oughtn't be for-profit. The evidence for, and obvious risk of, perverse incentives going totally bananas is just too high. - E

On its face, some entities just oughtn't be for-profit. The evidence for, and obvious risk of, perverse incentives going totally bananas is just too high. - Educational institutions - Hospitals - Fire departments (i don't think these exist, at least not yet, but the idea comes up in Discworld)

Kalium 8y ago
> - Fire departments (i don't think these exist, at least not yet, but the idea comes up in Discworld) These have existed. (Reference: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/early-19-century-firefighters-fought-fires-each-other-180960391/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/early...)
- rhcom2 8y ago
  And in Rome, where famously Marcus Licinius Crassus' private fire fighters would arrive to a fire but first haggle over the price before attempting to put it out.
  - Kalium 8y ago
    If memory serves, "fire fighting" as we know it now didn't really exist at the time. He would negotiate to buy the land. Once he did, his slaves would basically tear down the building and potentially any nearby ones to contain the fire.
izzydata 8y ago
I can't say that I've ever seen the word "oughtn't" before. I get that it is a contraction of "ought" and "not", but it seems more difficult to say and the same amount of characters.
- jfk13 8y ago
  Seems familiar enough to me (as a UK reader). Some dictionaries suggest it has become rare in North America, however.
- stordoff 8y ago
  I can't say I see it in text much, but it is fairly common in spoken UK English (though in my particular dialect it often gets further shortened to something approximating ough'n't).
FireBeyond 8y ago
> Fire departments (i don't think these exist, at least not yet, but the idea comes up in Discworld) Can and do. Check out Grant's Pass, OR. Three competing private fire companies, one of which was dubbed "the worst fire department in America" and after repeated excursions into infamy/incompetence, was yanked by the Oregon State Fire Marshal: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhD_5T4F7aw&t=255s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhD_5T4F7aw&t=255s * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaG6fYBKXg8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaG6fYBKXg8
bwanab 8y ago
- police forces - military - prisons
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  I think we'd be fine with private security for many cases where one can possibly hire private security today. Events or locations where lots of people are present (concerts, train stations) or places where service is so terrible you need a cop on hand to scare people into not flipping out(city hall, DMV) should probably use private security. Having a security company to sue or to not hire next time corrects the lack of incentive to not be jerks that a lot of police departments seem to lack. The publicly funded police should do more investigating and less patrolling/standing around.
SomeHacker44 8y ago
Prisons. Especially prisons.
travisoneill1 8y ago
It's not so much that it's for profit, but who pays. For most things we don't care if not everyone gets it so free market works best. Things that we require everybody to have are best paid for by taxation. And hybrid systems are a disaster. I can't think of any exceptions. But if the government pays $100 to put a cast on a broken arm and a hospital figures out how to do it for $50 and profits, I don't see a problem.
lemming 8y ago
- pharmaceutical companies
hatmatrix 8y ago
Health insurance industry. To maximize profit for shareholders, they minimize payout to clients.
- kgwgk 8y ago
  The minimum payout is fixed by law. Of course this create the incentive to increase costs rather than reduce them, given that their margins are capped.

Kalium 8y ago

> - Fire departments (i don't think these exist, at least not yet, but the idea comes up in Discworld) These have existed. (Reference: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/early-19-century-firefighters-fought-fires-each-other-180960391/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/early...)

rhcom2 8y ago
And in Rome, where famously Marcus Licinius Crassus' private fire fighters would arrive to a fire but first haggle over the price before attempting to put it out.
- Kalium 8y ago
  If memory serves, "fire fighting" as we know it now didn't really exist at the time. He would negotiate to buy the land. Once he did, his slaves would basically tear down the building and potentially any nearby ones to contain the fire.

izzydata 8y ago

I can't say that I've ever seen the word "oughtn't" before. I get that it is a contraction of "ought" and "not", but it seems more difficult to say and the same amount of characters.

jfk13 8y ago
Seems familiar enough to me (as a UK reader). Some dictionaries suggest it has become rare in North America, however.
stordoff 8y ago
I can't say I see it in text much, but it is fairly common in spoken UK English (though in my particular dialect it often gets further shortened to something approximating ough'n't).

FireBeyond 8y ago

> Fire departments (i don't think these exist, at least not yet, but the idea comes up in Discworld) Can and do. Check out Grant's Pass, OR. Three competing private fire companies, one of which was dubbed "the worst fire department in America" and after repeated excursions into infamy/incompetence, was yanked by the Oregon State Fire Marshal: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhD_5T4F7aw&t=255s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhD_5T4F7aw&t=255s * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaG6fYBKXg8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaG6fYBKXg8

bwanab 8y ago

- police forces - military - prisons

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
I think we'd be fine with private security for many cases where one can possibly hire private security today. Events or locations where lots of people are present (concerts, train stations) or places where service is so terrible you need a cop on hand to scare people into not flipping out(city hall, DMV) should probably use private security. Having a security company to sue or to not hire next time corrects the lack of incentive to not be jerks that a lot of police departments seem to lack. The publicly funded police should do more investigating and less patrolling/standing around.

SomeHacker44 8y ago

Prisons. Especially prisons.

travisoneill1 8y ago

It's not so much that it's for profit, but who pays. For most things we don't care if not everyone gets it so free market works best. Things that we require everybody to have are best paid for by taxation. And hybrid systems are a disaster. I can't think of any exceptions. But if the government pays $100 to put a cast on a broken arm and a hospital figures out how to do it for $50 and profits, I don't see a problem.

lemming 8y ago

- pharmaceutical companies

hatmatrix 8y ago

Health insurance industry. To maximize profit for shareholders, they minimize payout to clients.

kgwgk 8y ago
The minimum payout is fixed by law. Of course this create the incentive to increase costs rather than reduce them, given that their margins are capped.