what about the SEC? On 12/31/07, Don Ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Veering totally off topic, but hey, it's fun! > > Competition and a free market can solve most problems. There are some > that can't be done efficiently - roads, the military, police, etc. - by > the private sector, and there is a role for government. > > Regulated industries are traditionally hamstrung in their ability to > deliver good market-based service. Airlines, cellular carriers, local > exchange carriers. They've been regulated for so long that they've lost > any corporate memory of what it's like to provide excellent customer > service in order to compete for customers. Government has NO incentive > to provide excellent customer service to compete for customers, since it > doesn't have to compete. It can raise revenue from taxing and so, > unlike private industry, it doesn't have to depend on its customers for > its existence. That's why very few parts of government (and the bigger, > the worse it gets) provide dazzling customer service. > > There are certainly industries that need to be regulated to some extent > "for the public good", but there are few examples of this working any > better, overall, than NOT regulating them. The people who want > government control of everything go overboard in one direction, and the > people who want no government oversight at all go the other. Usually it > swings in the direction of the former, which is why we have so many > industries that have lost their way. > > Government should not be in the business of competing with private > enterprise. That's not what it's for. I have no problem with a > well-targeted provision for those who are truly unable to provide for > their own healthcare. This, as opposed to those who are unable by > choice, whose ranks would swell uncontrollably if government provided > the kind of sweeping centralized "free" healthcare for all that some > running for office support. That's the problem. That's where it comes > full circle. Government shouldn't do things the people and the states > haven't empowered it to do. Government shouldn't compete with private > industry. Government shouldn't overregulate private industry either. > When it does any of those things, we end up with problems. > > IRS, TSA, DMV and all the other acronyms aren't examples, they are a > warning. > > Over, > Don > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Craig Froehle > Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 9:34 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [OT] US Healthcare (Was "[Treo] Re: New security rules for > batteries on planes") > > On Dec 31, 2007 11:14 AM, Don Ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Government run healthcare for everyone? Ever dealt with the IRS? > > Yep. And the DMV. And the TSA. And the Post Office. There are > examples of bad government operations/policies everywhere. > > But the government has no monopoly on bad service...just look at the > cellular carriers...or the large cable operators...or the airlines. > All non-government operations, yet they seem to have many of the same > problems. > > But, just as there are examples of bad service in both public and > private sectors, there are examples of good service in both as well. > Government is rarely the sole problem, but it is rarely the sole > solution. My position is that we need to rethink how we do things, > and companies rarely do anything for the public good that doesn't help > their bottom lines. Healthcare is as much of a "public good" as are > police, fire, military, post office, and education, and we have > combined public+private solutions to all those industries (e.g., > police are paid for by taxes, but you can always hire your own private > security firm for extra service). Health care is the only one where > huge numbers of Americans have no access to a public > (government-offered) healthcare solution unless they become poor or > appropriately aged. A government-run healthcare network wouldn't get > rid of private insurers, it would merely add another option to the > competitive landscape (think USPS and UPS/FedEx)...and competition is > good, right? > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
-- ============================== War Eagle
