It appears, that in the heat of discussing various theoretical positions and
personal experiences we may overlook some simple realities. If it costs "x"
to produce a product or service, then contracting someone who has to charge
"x" plus a profit margin will always, in the longer run, be more expensive.
The only way a private contractor can realize serious cost savings for the
government on ongoing responsibilities is by paying labor less and/or using
inferior materials. If the cost differential is purely in productivity costs
(highly unlikely) then what we need to demand is better management and not
privatization of responsibilities.

The above does not touch on the issue of institutional memory. That element
is difficult to quantify in economic terms but it is real and there is a
real cost involved to lack of institutional memory. A friend, a long-time
employee of the federal government used to say to me, "Just, by the time you
train one administration they bring on another one, and you have to begin
all over."
nburlakoff

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of David Harvey
Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 5:01 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Privatization

Since I started this whole thread I would just like to observe that although
there are certainly incompetant governement employees that the vast majority
that I have had the pleasure of meeting were not only competant  but
professional. I would say the same as to the good people who work as
contractors or for
contracting companies. Sure there has been abuse of contracting situations
and
those have been well publicized in the press, but does that mean the one
assumes that all contractors are driven by those impulses that have lead
others to
less than ethical or legal practices? I think not.

Yes, perhaps it is harder to weed out bad employees in the civil service but
the same can be said for many non-governemental institutions that have a
faulty culture that promotes incompetance or even worse unethical and
illegal
practices. The last that I looked, Enron and others of its corporate ilk
(who were
also held governement contracts) were not governed by the civil service.
This
is perhaps a lesson that so-called "competition" isn't as pure nor as as
highly an exhaulted value that some espouse it to be.

So, instead of painting with such large brush, I would encourage my
colleagues on here to look upon this as a more complex mixture of people and
organizational cultures, in the governmental and corporate world,  that have
been
recognized for both their excellence and lack thereof in many situtations
over the
years.

Privitization, just like tax cuts, have been prosletyzed as universal
paneaceas for our troubles for years now - sort of the political snake-oil
of our
time.

I, for one, don't buy into any "universal" solution and feel that with these
issues come both effects that are good and bad. All such ideas remain to be
seen as to how effective they might be in the light of history.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Artifacts
2930 South Birch Street
Denver, CO  80222
303-300-5257
[log in to unmask]

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