Science Forums 2

[lemit]

One of the fascinating misconceptions about government is that since it doesn't respond to the market, it doesn't respond to anything. The fact is, government workers generally have the taxpayers watching everything they do and therefore are held to a pretty high level of efficiency.

Try doing goverment-funded basic research. (Actually, there aren't many opportunities left, since the leaders in basic research have gone to private universities.) The constant need to justify everything you do so you can continue to receive public funding is probably the greatest source of inefficiency in our socialized model. You become pretty inefficient if you spend all your time on efficiency studies.

I know free enterprise can be excruciating. My point, which I probably have not made, is that publicly supported enterprises have their own pressures.

--lemit

p.s. I live close to an old-fashioned, overstaffed--a single person waiting is reason to open a new checkout stand--neighborhood grocery. I love it. They all know me. They all know I have some mobility problems, so somebody is always waiting to carry my groceries. We can have more of those with socialized food? Wow!