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> the problem in practice is that government sucks at running things. They introduce layers of infrastructure that business doesn't Actually, there is no evide

> the problem in practice is that government sucks at running things. They introduce layers of infrastructure that business doesn't Actually, there is no evidence of this. See this report that compares the Govt run industries before and after privatisation: http://www.psiru.org/reports/public-and-private-sector-efficiency http://www.psiru.org/reports/public-and-private-sector-effic... "The results are remarkably consistent across all sectors and all forms of privatisation and outsourcing: there is no empirical evidence that the private sector is intrinsically more efficient" Even if it was more efficient, $31 billion of corrupt bonuses on top = no different from an inefficient government.

jasonwocky 12y ago
> "The results are remarkably consistent across all sectors and all forms of privatisation and outsourcing: there is no empirical evidence that the private sector is intrinsically more efficient" Exactly this. I've spent years in both sectors. People suck at running things, not governments.
- ahallock 12y ago
  At least those inefficient companies could be disrupted by startups, and at least they don't get to take my money by force (apart from subsidies and bailouts). No such mechanism exists for government. That people suck at running things is the very reason we need this rise-and-fall structure.
vidarh 12y ago
I think people tend to conflate government run businesses with government departments. Government departments will often be more bureaucratic for the simple reason that they have many additional roles to their primary ones: They are subject to openness and audit criteria that no private business is; they're subject to leadership systems that need to be resilient to far more frequent and drastic changes than in most businesses; they're subject to performance measurement across a far wider set of criteria than most private businesses etc.

jasonwocky 12y ago

> "The results are remarkably consistent across all sectors and all forms of privatisation and outsourcing: there is no empirical evidence that the private sector is intrinsically more efficient" Exactly this. I've spent years in both sectors. People suck at running things, not governments.

ahallock 12y ago
At least those inefficient companies could be disrupted by startups, and at least they don't get to take my money by force (apart from subsidies and bailouts). No such mechanism exists for government. That people suck at running things is the very reason we need this rise-and-fall structure.

vidarh 12y ago

I think people tend to conflate government run businesses with government departments. Government departments will often be more bureaucratic for the simple reason that they have many additional roles to their primary ones: They are subject to openness and audit criteria that no private business is; they're subject to leadership systems that need to be resilient to far more frequent and drastic changes than in most businesses; they're subject to performance measurement across a far wider set of criteria than most private businesses etc.