People who say "Private Business is more efficient than Government"

[johnaries]

have never been in a position to know. I mention this today because I did some training on an "analyst" to help her better understand the reports that she was supposed to analyse. At almost every step, she would yell "that's so stupid! Why would we do it that way" and the only response I could give was "I can't tell you 'why' we do it the stupid way and I personally have argued that it could be done better, but this is what we sold and this is how it works today. Like it or not."

And our company is considered one of the more "progressive" companies.

I also trained a Tech who was working on her Human Resources degree. When she would talk about what her Professors taught her, all I could do was laugh. Yeah, what her professors taught made sense. Good fucking luck with that in the Corporate world.

If you are looking for efficiency, results, or even just plain old common sense - they simply don't exist in the private corporate world. No matter what Ron Paul says.

That being said, I do not support Pure Socialism. I believe in a balance of power, and putting all economic power in the hands of Politicians gives them too much power. But Unregulated Capitalism is just as stupid.

We have to find balance.

[Cant trust em]

1. What you're talking about doesn't sound much more nuanced than their talking point.

Bottom line is that bureaucracies are difficult to change. No matter if they're private or government.

[snot]

2. There needs to be more rational, strategic analysis.

Some things require gov'l policing; some don't. For some things -- coke vs. pepsi -- market forces suffice. Others -- bank regulation, etc. -- individual, avg. citizens can't possibly be expected to police.

[Meldread]

3. The problem is always bureaucracy.

Government generally becomes inefficient when it grows too large due to the bureaucracy. It also creates institutional interests that are very hard to over power.

The same is true in large corporations.

[dsn]

4. The most efficient and inefficient entities I've ever seen

I hate to say it, but the Texas driver's license branch is VERY efficient. They get 'em in, get 'em processed and get 'em out. They issue driver's licenses from a central office, but (assuming their computer works, but that's a story for another time) they can get a driver's license to anywhere in Texas in less than a week. The people seem competent and trained in customer service. Whoever runs the Texas Department of Public Safety needs to start teaching retail establishments how to do their jobs. Admittedly I've only ever been in two DPS offices, but I was pleased with the service I got in both of them.

OTOH, the least efficient entity in the world is a private company that owes you money. I don't care if it's a refund, a rebate, your paycheck, whatever...it takes an act of God to get money out of a private company.

[conscious evolution]

10. Yesterday I spent more time at the security checkpoint

than I did in the tag office in my town.Six people ahead of me and I was in and out in under ten minutes.
Then I went to my insurance company to cancell policy on my old car.That took 45 minutes.Just to cancel a policy.And I have to wait 45-60 days for a refund.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Business and government are two separate things. There is no point in

either comparing or equating the two.

[Swamp Rat]

6. ... are brain damaged.

[county worker]

7. The private world requires a return on investment. It needs to spend less than it earns to exist.

Governments other than federal governments operate on a balanced budget. They cannot spend more then their revenue. The revenue to government is not easily raised because most of it is in the form of taxes which require legislation to change. Some taxes rise and fall with the economy but the tax rate is difficult to change. So a state and local government is forced to live within it's means. Imagine a for profit police force or fire department. Service would be based on the ability to pay for the protection. Government services should not be a for profit business if everyone is to be treated equal.

[iamtechus]

8. The answer to those who like to compare private business and the gov:

Private businesses and the government were created and exist for different purposes.

- Corporations and other private businesses exist to generate a return on the investment of owners and investors.

- The reason that our government was created and exists is explained in the preamble to the constitution. I you're not familiar with that, google is your friend.

[Turbineguy]

9. Anybody who says that

obviously has not looked at medical insurance companies.

[quaker bill]

11. People are people

some are smart and efficient, some are not. At some level, it does not matter where they work. The difference between business and government is that often truly inefficient businesses are allowed to fail, something that is quite rare for governments. However some truly ineffective and inefficient businesses seem to scrape by, year after year. They never get large, but they get enough work to survive. The test in the private sector is not all that rigorous generally, the selective pressure only gets really intense in a recession. But recessions are not precise instruments and may collapse both efficient and inefficient businesses.

The one thing this recession has proven is that businesses are vastly more efficient than government at "waste, fraud, and abuse". Government may not deliver promised services in a timely manner, but the private sector will invent utterly bogus financial instruments and sell them to you with the only intent of stealing your savings, to the tune of trillions of dollars globally, something government never does.