one of the most hotly contested issues duringthe 2016 presidential election has been the privatization of social security. favoredby republican candidates, privatizing social security would make workers bear responsibilityfor their own retirement fund, instead of having it managed by a government agency.similar calls are being made for privatizing medicare and veteran’s affairs. so whatis privatization, and should more government
How To Address A Letter To Kosovo, agencies be privatized? well, privatization occurs when a governmentagency that provides public services is converted into a privately owned organization. whilethe services often remain, they can be delivered on a for-profit basis rather than strictlyoperated for the benefit of the public. for
example, in the 1980s the united kingdom soldseveral state-owned companies, like british airways and british petroleum, to cut companycosts and improve government efficiency. similarly, in america, the student loan marketingassociation, also known as sallie mae, was privatized in 2004. this helped reduce thegovernment’s direct financial risk associated with taking on student debt. additionally,it freed sallie mae from restrictive congressional oversight, which was said to stifle and impedetheir ability to quickly react to new market changes. proponents of privatization argue that ifgovernment agencies were run like private companies - with less oversight - free marketcompetition would result in “better, faster
and cheaper†services. this is based onthe idea that companies would have to compete for your business, instead of the governmentbeing your only choice. the argument also rests on the assumption that because privateindustries can hire and fire people more easily, employees are incentivized to be more competentand efficient. however, opponents of privatization arguethat increased government oversight and a small private sector is better for the public.while government agencies are created to serve and be publicly accountable, private organizationsare only beholden to their shareholders. as is sometimes the case, profit-seeking motivestend to overrule the public benefit. this conflict of interests is not always transparent,as private companies have less oversight.
one current example of the privatization debateis the united states postal service. over the last decade, the usps has been hemorrhagingmoney, losing $5.5 billion dollars in 2014 alone. many see the usps as an obsolete andfailing industry, with e-mail having eliminated much of its function. privatizing the programcould cut costs and allow freedom to adapt to the changing marketplace. however, postalunions are still very powerful and have widely protested privatization and other potentialcuts to the agency. for many politicians, the controversy overprivatization boils down a choice between larger government oversight with a smallerfree market, or small government with a larger free market. privatizing an intentional governmentmonopoly like social security may lead to
both positives and negatives, and whethercongress can find a suitable compromise is yet to be seen. many prisons in the united states are privatized— and that can be a problem. find out why in this video. thanks for watching! don’tforget to like and subscribe to testtube news. we’ll see you next time!
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