Mark Snyder wrote, along with several irrelevant anecdotes: The so-called inefficiency of government programs is a myth spun by "garage logic" adherents and (Rich) Taxpayers League flunkies.
Mark Anderson: I don't know what "garage logic" is, but here's some logic derived simply from living in a modern society and watching events. There are several reasons that government programs are inherently less efficient than private operations. I define efficiency as providing the highest level of goods and services desired by consumers at the lowest cost. 1) Government is a monopoly, so no one can decline to pay for their services. Naturally there is less incentive for the service providers to provide what is desired by the service receivers. The only incentive for the ultimate bosses is to get re-elected. This is an obvious problem with the bus strike, since providing bus service won't help much to get Pawlenty re-elected. Does this sound like an efficient system, Mark? 2) Corollary of #1: In government the way to get ahead is to do activities that look good politically. In business the way to get ahead is to satisfy one's customer at the lowest possible cost. 3) Accountability to the voters is very diffuse, because all services run through just a few office holders (and two political parties). Voters must weigh services of all kinds when they determine which official to vote for. They may vote for a candidate that represents poor bus service and police protection, because they also represent good roads and garbage service. When choosing a business to patronize, one may base the decision on just the one service they provide. 4) When businesses fail to satisfy their customers or spend too much, they go out of business (if government doesn't bail them out). When government fails, at best new candidates are elected, usually with little change to the provision of services. 5) Candidates are selected based on their political skills, not any knowledge they have in running an enterprise. Occasionally this happens in business too, but those businesses normally go under quickly. 6) Government is constantly buffeted by complaints, many of which have little to do with providing services to consumers. Businesses can ignore such complaints as long as consumers are satisfied, but government must spend most of their management time dealing with such political issues, at the expense of the actual services they provide. Those are the points of inefficiency that occur to me off the top of my head. I know there are several other points that are just as valid, but they escape me at the moment. This is not just a left vs. right issue. Many leftists have been bitterly blaming Pawlenty and Bell for the bus strike. The poor are indeed being left in the cold in this fight, and part of the reason is because it's a government-run operation. As Terrell pointed out, what is the incentive for the Republicans to settle the strike? The government has no incentive to provide services unless it helps them get re-elected. If businesses ran our mass transit system, they'd be hurting every day the buses weren't running. Also, what skills does Bell have in running a transit system? Other than his time at TCF, he's just been a political activist. I suspect even his TCF time was basically public relations. Now that Democrats see the direction the government moves under the opposing party, they should understand that privatization is beneficial to them too. Well, it would be beneficial to their constituency, which isn't really the same thing as beneficial to the Party. But if we de-politicize a service, and instead provide private incentives to run it well, one ends up with a better result. Mark V Anderson Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
