Paul Krugman, "Prisons, Privatization, Patronage": Hyper-Politicized Horsefeathers

"Four legs good, two legs bad!"

"Unions good, privatization bad!"

In yet another hyper-politicized New York Times opinion piece entitled "Prisons, Privatization, Patronage" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/opinion/krugman-prisons-privatization-patronage.html), Paul Krugman attacks privatization of traditional government functions. Specifically addressing privatization of prison services and alleged substandard functioning of such outsourcing in Chris Christie's New Jersey, Krugman writes:

"And, sure enough, despite many promises that prison privatization will lead to big cost savings, such savings — as a comprehensive study by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, concluded — 'have simply not materialized.' To the extent that private prison operators do manage to save money, they do so through 'reductions in staffing patterns, fringe benefits, and other labor-related costs.'

So let’s see: Privatized prisons save money by employing fewer guards and other workers, and by paying them badly. And then we get horror stories about how these prisons are run. What a surprise!"

Yet a few lines down, Krugman acknowledges:

"Now, someone will surely point out that nonprivatized government has its own problems of undue influence, that prison guards and teachers’ unions also have political clout, and this clout sometimes distorts public policy. Fair enough. But such influence tends to be relatively transparent. Everyone knows about those arguably excessive public pensions."

I'm sorry, Paul, but now you have me confused. Are you acknowledging that the political clout of unions can distort public policy, and that public employees are sometimes overpaid, i.e. not "paid badly"? Morevover, would you have us believe that excessive penison plans and crapulous political clout are okay because everyone knows about them? Yeah, right.

Like almost everything else in this world, there is no black and white. There is a need for privatization to rein in the excesses of public employee unions. Yes, competition can be a good thing.

However, there is also a need for oversight and vigilence to identify and prevent abuses resulting from the excesses of both public employee unions and privatized services.

C'est tout.