[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

You're talking city/town employees and I'm talking Federal Employees....those are 2 different things as well.

True enough...

TDF, let's break down the public/private sector to its fundamental, irrefutable difference...

In the private sector (for the most part), you only bring in revenue by making people WANT TO give you their money. That's a heck of a thing. People work hard for their money, and will likely only hand it over for something of value. Furthermore, most businesses have a lot of competition. Consequently, common sense suggests that the private scetor workers have every imaginable incentive to be as efficient as possible, and to add as much value as possible. for their customers.

In the public sector, for the most part, the revenue is confiscated from the customer in the form of taxes, and given to the entity in question (Dept of Energy, Dept Of Education, whatever). These organizations know that they will get their budgeted revenue regardless of how well or poorly they perform. Furthermore, there is no competition. For example, there's only one Department Of Energy, there isn't a private-sector counterpart competing for those tax dollars. Those organizations have a monopoly, no competition (for many of the organizations, not for all). That removes much of the incentive to excel for many people.

Are there public sector workers who go above and beyond the call? Absolutely. Are there private scetor workers who are lazy? Absolutely. But between public and private, one of those sectors tells its employees that they don't get anything unless they work for it, the other tells its employees that the revenue is guaranteed up front. You don't need to be a Harvard-trained psychiatrist to guess which kinds of behaviors each system is likely to produce.