OCR Text |
Show Will privatization curb government growth? Is privatization the answer to the growing dissatisfaction with the expansion of government during the past half century? This question was explored by Utah Foundation, the private research re-search organization in their latest study. Between 1930 and 1986, total federal, state, and local spending spend-ing in the United States multiplied 134 times. Governmental expenditures, which were equal to 12.2 percent of the gross national product in 1930, had expanded to 35.2 percent of the gross national product in 1986. In response to the growing dissatisfaction with the continuing rise in the public sector at the expense of the private sector of the economy, the 1986 Utah Legislature approved a joint resolution resolu-tion that urges the state "to adopt a strong privatization policy" and to "search for agencies and services that may be privatized." priva-tized." been advanced to reverse the trend toward bigger government: 1. To remove certain services and activities from the public sector and allow them to be supplied by the private sector. 2. To reduce government involvement in the delivery of certain cer-tain services by making better use of alternative means of furnishing fur-nishing such services. 3. To impose user fees and charges for government services in a an 8-g order to reveal the actual cost of the service provided. 4. To permit and encourage competition in the rendering of services to the public. Proponents of privatization maintain that these four strategies strate-gies reinforce each other and can be blended together. For example, information obtained from the imposition of user charges can lead to greater competition, alternative means of providing the service, or the actual elimination of the service if it is found that the benefits do not justify the cost. The report observes that even though it may be decided that a particular service is essential to the public good, this does not necessarily mean that the service must be supplied by the government gov-ernment itself. Included among the suggested alternative delivery deliv-ery approaches are (1) intergovernmental service arrangements, arrange-ments, (2) contracting with private suppliers for the goods or services, (3) franchise arrangements with private companies, (4) ' grants and subsidies, (5) assistance to self-help groups, (6) use of vouchers, and (7) employment of unpaid volunteers. Finally, the Foundation study emphasized that "the greatest hindrance to greater economy and efficiency in government is the lack of competition and the absence of a profit motive." It concluded that "increased competition, therefore, should result in better service to the public at a reduced cost" |