Government Efficiency
Public Goods Post | November 2018
The public sector is often more efficient than the private sector. A recent, well-researched paper dispels the myth that the private sector is inherently more efficient than government. In fact, in most cases public provision is functionally more efficient and less costly for taxpayers. The study, “Economic Benefits of Public Services,” published in the Real-World Economics Review, is an analysis of multiple studies that compare direct government provision with privatized or outsourced services. There is no evidence that the private sector is more efficient. So, if the private sector does not have any efficiency advantage, then there is nothing to offset the higher cost of private capital, and it is always likely better value to use the public sector. – read more —
The High Return on Investment for Publicly Funded Research
Center for American Progress | Sean Pool and Jennifer Erickson
In order for the U.S. to maintain its role as an innovation-driven economy, “government must provide three key public-good inputs that allow innovation to blossom: investments in human capital, infrastructure, and research.” The authors cite and summarize the contributions of influential research funded by the U.S. Government through the Dept. of Energy Labs, The National Science Foundation, The Human Genome Project, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Apollo Space Program.