[WorkingPoor]

Privatizing the government is one of the most active projects of the early 21st century.

Everything we once expected the government to do — from education to regulatory rule-writing to military operations to healthcare services to prison management — it now does less of, preferring to support markets in which these services are done through independent, profit-maximizing agents. Tools such as contracting out, vouchering and the selling-off of state assets have been used to remake the government during our market-worshipping era.

Privatization is one of the few political projects that enjoys bipartisan support: Conservatives cheer the rollback of the state, and liberals like to claim that the virtues of the free market are being used towards the egalitarian ends of public policy. The fraud and waste that often come with outsourcing these services has been well-documented. The private management in Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the lobbying efforts of corporate prisons have all provided horror stories of what happens when cronyism guides decision-making on behalf of the state. But privatization as standard government practice has problems that go far beyond the abuses of any single incident.


http://www.salon.com...trap/singleton/

[CharlesInVermont]

The risks and values of privatization can be argued. On the one hand, in principle, public utilities should be cheaper and better controlled because they don't have to make a profit, and their budgets are subject to the overview of voters and elected officials. However, it is quite clear that competition works quite well at keeping costs down.

Data are also quite clear: When things that are inherently monopolies are privatized it ends up costing more, and often much more, than public utilities. Based on this I would reason that things like hardware stores and grocery stores, which are inherently open to competitive forces should be privatized (which of course they are), and things like water and sewer, toll roads, electricity, are probably better run as public utilities or regulated monopolies.

Water privatization has been particularly onerous and well studied

http://www.foodandwa...vate-vs-public/