@AlSweigart @jasongorman In my experience, having worked in both public and private organisations on 4 continents, from the oil business to international NGOs, the most wasteful by far were large private sector companies.
When the alternative to profligacy is paying tax it's an easy decision for some.
@samueljohnson
Not surprising, considering they get as bureaucratic and inefficient when they grow this big and their power to influence things in a way that is beneficial only to them and no one else gets very close to that of a state, but their primary goal of making profits remains intact 🤷
@Illuminatus
I really like these words by Joseph Stiglitz, it's not an exact quote, I do it by memory, and I have only read this book, it's either from The Price of Inequality or from The Great Divide, in translation, but it's something like this: some seem to believe that money spent in the private sector is spent efficiently even if it's spent in the casino — I think it's very spot-on 😂
@samueljohnson @AlSweigart @jasongorman
@m0xee @AlSweigart @jasongorman All organisations can suffer principal/agent problems and no, it can't be assumed that private sector organisations invariably seek profitability (alone). Amazon famously didn't for years and had many predecessors in seeking to cut margins to harm others & drive them out of business. Just saying the typically American cant of govt = big & bad is hogwash. Michael Lewis's book The Fifth Risk deconstructs it nicely in the case of the US.
@samueljohnson
That is why I'm not calling it their sole purpose, but it's still their primary one — by definition. Although there are other types of organization, but those are relatively new concept and I don't think we're talking about them.
I'm also not stating that government is necessarily big and bad, I'm just comparing their bureaucracy and power/influence to that of a state/govt, nor am I even American, but thanks for the book recommendation anyway 😁
@m0xee @AlSweigart @jasongorman Comment about US & book recommendation wasn't specifically for you but for Americans, Republicans especially.
Like all of ML's books it's very good and very readable. A fine rebuke to those like Rick Perry who advocated eliminating the Dept of Energy† (and more) and, ofc, the Trump administration that didn't bother staffing many positions or appointed know-nothing 🤡🤡 (consequences recounted in The Premonition).
†See Chesterton's fence: https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/
@m0xee @samueljohnson @AlSweigart @jasongorman You think inter-departmental rivalries in public/governmental entities are wasteful? Try those when the C-suite arseholes are looking for ways to cut the budget and increase profits. That's where the real nasty™ begins.