# Government Waste vs Market Inefficiencies **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 6, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-waste-vs-market-inefficiencies/545719 "2010-07-06T15:05:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 146
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-waste-vs-market-inefficiencies/545719/146 "2010-07-09T21:07:01Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Thnks. > > Any thoughts on how we might describe any of that numerically? > > Or what we are referring to when we say “inefficient”? The definition of inefficient is the same one that is used in conjunction with “government waste and inefficiency.” Consider [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507951) thread about health care. > [@Would universal healthcare be more expensive or less than the current US system?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/3): > > I absolutely _hate_ this argument. You realize it could be made about _any_ service or product and that it is the basis of communism? Get rid of the capitalist and things are cheaper! Except that it does not work that way at all. In fact, it mostly works the opposite way. We say in Spanish that “it is the eye of the owner what fattens the horse”. It is the interest of the owner which makes the company prosper and grow. And the only way for a company to prosper and grow is to provide valuable services or products. Once you do not have that incentive there is no incentive to be efficient or to provide a good service. Do you think food would be cheaper in America if the government took over all food production and removed all the profit the farmers and food production industry makes? > > When you have a government-run or controlled industry you have much more bureaucracy. Much more need to cover formalities (and your own butt) than to be efficient. After all, if they need more money they can just raise taxes. > [@Would universal healthcare be more expensive or less than the current US system?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-universal-healthcare-be-more-expensive-or-less-than-the-current-us-system/487175/24): > > I love the free market. I have no problem with someone making a profit by figuring out how to provide better service at a better cost. I also think the United State should adopt a totally nationalized universal health care system. > > The reason is that the free market fails utterly in this environment. A government run system will have the faults and inefficiencies that government run systems always have, but will be unlikely to match the train wreck that our “free market” system gives us. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/government-waste-vs-market-inefficiencies/545719)._