Normally you wouldn't find me extolling the virtues of a large corporation like Walmart, but this article that Marion sent me outlines how Walmart was a lot more helpful during Katrina than Fema. I find the argument of private corporations being more responsive and capable than governments interesting. I have to think that one through a bit more. It seems to be true in some cases, but perhaps not in others. I am not sure I would trust private parties to fund things like the National Science Foundation or the National Endowment for the Humanities. Governments tend to ensure funding for things that markets don't support because the en devour lacks sustainability or is to expensive/risky for an entrepreneur to take on. On the other hand few people would argue that government could ever touch the efficiency of private business.
Tags: business · economy · government · walmart1 Comment
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Yeah, it’s hard to tell when government would do a better job, and when private institutions would do better. I used to think that there could be nothing like PBS in the private sector. PBS filled a nitch that nobody else did. Then you see things like TLC, History Channel, Nickelodeon, that really do a decent job at parts of what PBS did. PBS used to show tennis because nobody else did. Then it became popular, and the ‘private sector’ took over. Now you have ESPN that does all sorts of stuff.
I’m not saying we don’t need PBS, I’m saying sometimes the private sector can do just as good a job, sometimes better, sometimes worse.