You Don't Always Get What You Pay for: The Economics of Privatization

By Elliott D. Sclar

Book Overview

Today, nearly all public services--schools, hospitals, prisons, fire departments, sanitation--are considered fair game for privatization. Proponents of privatization argue that private firms will respond to competitive market pressures and provide better service at lower cost. While this assertion has caused much controversy, the debate between both sides has consisted mainly of impassioned defenses of entrenched positions. In You Don't Always Get What You Pay For, Elliott D. Sclar offers a balanced look at the pitfalls and promises of public sector privatization in the United States. By describing the underlying economic dynamics of how public agencies and private organizations actually work together, he provides a rigorous analysis of the assumptions behind the case for privatization.The competitive-market model may seem appealing, but Sclar warns that it does not address the complex reality of contracting for government services. Using specific examples, such as mail service and urban transportation, he shows that ironically privatization does not shrink government--the broader goal of many of its own champions. He also demonstrates that there is more to consider in providing public services than trying to achieve efficiency; there are issues of equity and access that cannot be ignored.Sclar believes that public officials and voters will soon realize the limitations of "contracting out" just as private corporations have come to understand the drawbacks of outsourcing. After examining the effectiveness of alternatives to privatization, he offers suggestions for improving public sector performance--advice he hopes will be heeded before it is too late.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801487625
• ISBN13: 9780801487620
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

An Island of Wisdom in a Sea of Disinformation

Neck-deep in ideologically driven rhetoric about how privatization is as American as motherhood and apple pie and must be good for you? Frustrated at knowing there's more to this but you would need an un-bought economist to help you understand the real story? Help is here. Buy this book. Read, mark, learn, inwardly digest. . . . Sclar is going to have an impact on this debate. His parsing of the issues is a great start and, what's best, this book is going to stimulate more like it. This is the beginning of the skeptical and critical assay of the issues. Go for it. You too can now begin to build your own informed voice to start the shaping of a balanced dialogue. (By the way, the point is well made that improvement of public sector services, not just resistance to privatization initiatives, is the course we must set.)

Thoughtful and complete

This is a well rounded review of the privatization of government. It provides a good backdrop for the analysis of alternative privatization schemes, while using anectodes to make the point.

Sclar Makes it All So Easy

In his book, Elliott Sclar takes complex obtuse economic theories and makes them comprehensible for the rest of us. He adds a new element to the on-going debate on privitization. A must read for anyone new to the field and even those who are already in it. It is even a fairly interesting read for those in no way affiliated with the field.

Sclar Makes It Seem So Easy

In his book, Elliott Sclar takes complex economic theories and makes them comprehensible for the rest of us. He provides compelling new arguments against privitization, and adds new depth to the on going debate. A must for people entering the field and even those already in the field.