3 ms·

I say it's usually good. I think government is usually the most expensive, highest overhead, least competent, and lowest quality way to get anything done.

_emacsomancer_ 8y ago
> I think government is usually the most expensive, highest overhead, least competent, and lowest quality way to get anything done. Do you have concrete examples? Everything I can think of points to the opposite.
- AnthonyMouse 8y ago
  The Department of Defense is probably the canonical example. But closer to the topic, look at the government housing programs. Billions of dollars to build housing projects that do effectively nothing to lower the overall market price of housing, while creating slums by concentrating poverty in specific locations, while actively making the actual problem worse with zoning rules.
  - _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
    > The Department of Defense is probably the canonical example. Because they outsource to a bunch of private contractors, no?
    - AnthonyMouse 8y ago
      > Because they outsource to a bunch of private contractors, no? No. The government contracting process is as broken as anything else, but hurry up and wait, FUBAR and SNAFU did not originate at Lockheed Martin. We don't have major military bases in states with powerful legislators because that's what makes the most strategic sense from a military perspective. The VA healthcare system is not a disorganized mess primarily as a result of contractors. It's a systemic issue with any large bureaucracy, which is why small and local governments are more efficient than large and centralized ones. It's also why small and medium businesses are more efficient than huge conglomerates. And there is no bureaucracy larger than the US government. People like to compare their cash on hand with Apple's, but governments don't hoard cash like corporations do (and corporations only do it because of dumb tax policies). The US federal budget is around six times Apple's market cap, much less their own annual budget.
therealdrag0 8y ago
Large non-government organizations often have similar attributes in my experience.

_emacsomancer_ 8y ago

> I think government is usually the most expensive, highest overhead, least competent, and lowest quality way to get anything done. Do you have concrete examples? Everything I can think of points to the opposite.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago
The Department of Defense is probably the canonical example. But closer to the topic, look at the government housing programs. Billions of dollars to build housing projects that do effectively nothing to lower the overall market price of housing, while creating slums by concentrating poverty in specific locations, while actively making the actual problem worse with zoning rules.
- _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
  > The Department of Defense is probably the canonical example. Because they outsource to a bunch of private contractors, no?
  - AnthonyMouse 8y ago
    > Because they outsource to a bunch of private contractors, no? No. The government contracting process is as broken as anything else, but hurry up and wait, FUBAR and SNAFU did not originate at Lockheed Martin. We don't have major military bases in states with powerful legislators because that's what makes the most strategic sense from a military perspective. The VA healthcare system is not a disorganized mess primarily as a result of contractors. It's a systemic issue with any large bureaucracy, which is why small and local governments are more efficient than large and centralized ones. It's also why small and medium businesses are more efficient than huge conglomerates. And there is no bureaucracy larger than the US government. People like to compare their cash on hand with Apple's, but governments don't hoard cash like corporations do (and corporations only do it because of dumb tax policies). The US federal budget is around six times Apple's market cap, much less their own annual budget.

therealdrag0 8y ago

Large non-government organizations often have similar attributes in my experience.