Let’s Talk About Privatization
Privatization is supposed to save the tax payers money. The theory is that business can do things cheaper and better than government can. My question has always been. How? How can private industry take over jobs held by civil service employees and pay them equivalent wages and benefits (which by every measure are already lower than equivalent jobs in the private sector) and make a profit?
For the most part privatization has been a big failure in both areas. First, it ends up costing more and second the public loses direct accountability.
In point of fact, the government moved towards privatization over the nearly 3 decades that I worked in Child Welfare Services. Social Workers actually are mostly brokers for private services mandated by the courts to resolve problems with families over issues of child abuse and/or neglect. These contracts have led to lots of private sector agencies who directly compete for the ability to deliver counseling, psychiatric evaluations, monitoring of visitations, provision of therapeutic child care, etc.
It is not reported to the public how these efforts are going. But have you heard anything that suggests that our Child Welfare situation in the country has improved much or cost less to provide services to keep children protected?
You can look at the growth in Child Welfare costs over time by studying the NCAND database that is hosted at the Child Welfare League of America. Unfortunately, it does not break down the amounts of money that are paid directly to private contractors. However, according to Washington State reporting private contractors take nearly 60% of the budget for the agency.
Conservatives complain about socialism being an income redistribution mechanism are overlooking the fact that privatization does just that. It moves money that is collected in taxes into the hands of private contractors who have little accountability back to the taxpayers. This is not to say that all government agencies are doing the best job that they can in keeping costs low. But reason must prevail over mindless choices that favor one approach over the other.
If a case can be made for mindless privatization let me hear about it. I am all for cost savings and I saw plenty of waste during my career. However, there is also no question that waste happens in private corporations as well. Good management is the key in either private or public sectors.
Links to stories:
School privatization in San Francisco
Enron and Water Privatization
Prisons
Prisons according to GAO
12:01:24 PM 
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