It occurred to me, from a comment in another thread about Trumpy expecting to be a CEO who barks orders only to have all his underlings (like, Congress) to scurry about making things happen, that we’re about to see the very epitome of “run [the country | goverment] like a business” in action.
And learn, probably painfully for many of us, why the notion is horsesh*t.
When the only tool you have and know how to use is the hammer…
Well, I guess we’re just going to see how to run a country like TRUMP runs a business, to be more accurate. Clearly not all businesses are run the same, and many are successful without a narcissistic blowhard ruling the underlings. So even if it were to blow up in our collective faces, that doesn’t mean that governing like a business would necessarily be a bad thing because Trump does not equal business in general.
It is almost a canard, but I certainly expect this to be a problem.
It will be interesting to see how true it is. The trump voters certainly expect it, and while they will not get what they expect, it won’t bother them. Not much does it seems.
The question is whether Trump and his business buddies now in Government actually expect it and will be able to deal with the shock. I suspect they know better. They are smart people and have heard the same things we have heard.
I also don’t think their knowledge of the the facts will matter. Business is all these people know, and they simply don’t understand how to run a Government agency. It will cause problems and frustrations.
When George W Bush was running for the office, I remember it being noted that he would be the first president with an MBA, and was called the “CEO president”. Didn’t seem to work out too well and I’m not hopeful now.
Whoever made that comment in another thread doesn’t know shit about how most businesses are run.
Why is running the government like a business a bad idea?
For one thing, the federal government won’t get tax breaks or subsidies. 
The object of government should not be making a profit. It should be doing what’s best for the country(yes, I am hopelessly idealistic, why do you ask?) Agencies should not be looked at as profit centers or eliminated because they can’t be monetized.
And yet, the same people who say they want the country run like a business often balk at it actually being done. For instance, any business that found itself able to borrow money at effectively-zero interest rates would do so, to as great an extent as they could, and grow the business immensely. But that’s one of the things that most offends these folks when government does it.
Economically speaking, businesses work by providing customers with goods/services while providing shareholders/investors with a stream of income.
Governments work for fundamentally different purposes, for example:
Suffice it to say that there have been governments that were run like businesses (or businesses that had governmental powers - same diff.) - early trading companies and manors in feudal systems and company towns were both governments and companies run for profit. It tended not to work out well, for many reasons, especially the aggregation of power without effective checks or balances.
We’ve been “running government like a business” in Michigan for about 6 years now. Our education system is a disaster, they poisoned residents of Flint by cutting costs with their water, they accused thousands of unemployed workers of fraud and fined them improperly. It’s not good here. Our governor is a billionaire CEO and both houses of our state legislature are Republican controlled. If you want to see what we’re in for nationally, look to the Mitten State. Tax cuts for businesses, taxed pensions. Expansion of unregulated charter schools (under the lobbying of Betsy DeVos), destruction of teachers’ unions and underfunding of public schools. Raising of gas tax and license fees, elimination of EITC. Petty state laws taking away control from municipal governments. Attempts to *lower *the minimum wage. Attempts to remove prevailing wage laws in direct opposition to what a majority of residents (and actually the governor) want.
Fiscal responsibility is one thing. But running the government should be focused on public health and welfare, not the bottom line or turning profits.
I think there are certain aspects of government that should not be run like a business & other aspects that would benefit greatly with a businesslike approach. I stopped working years ago to raise my kids and became a full time volunteer at their schools (public). The inefficiencies and waste were painful & we successfully streamlined things & cut tremendous costs. I was at the DMV last month & as usual, it was a nightmare. I think a business approach would help that model greatly & customers could be satisfied rather than annoyed.
If somebody tried to run the government like a business, the first thing they’d do is raise taxes. Taxes are how the government obtains revenue and every business wants to increase its revenue.
Even without raising taxes, you could increase tax revenues by increasing the number of IRS enforcement agents. Sharply increase the number of audits of individuals, corporations and non-profits. I’m sure that even doubling the staff would more than pay for itself through increased revenues in the form of taxes and penalties. You might even go as far as putting the enforcement agents on commission.
If a division of a business is underperforming, the business always has the option of eliminating that part of the business. Surely you do not mean that the state should divest itself from the DMV. So what does a “business approach” mean to you?
The person who personally benefits from seizing bank accounts and assets should not have the power to seize bank accounts and assets.
The point of the commission is to offer an incentive to the enforcement staff to work harder to find tax cheats. If the commission is rich enough, smart young people will choose to work for the IRS rather than Wall Street or Silicon Valley.
I don’t agree with the “run the government like a business” approach but if that’s what people want, the IRS enforcement staff can be much more profitable.
Government runs on labyrinthine regulations that are designed to prevent abuse of position, misappropriation and spending of money that doesn’t belong to them, and to protect the American public. To run it like a business would mean skirting all existing laws and regulations; in other words, a dictatorship. Corporations are not democratic entities that run on popular vote or consensus. The boss tells you what to do; if you don’t do it, he fires you and finds someone who will. There is little that resembles a system of checks and balances.
Treating your patrons like customers who’s business you value.