Politics & government: Public enterprise

Govvernments were established to do for the people what the people could not do for themselves. Private contractors later did for governments what governments could not do for themselves (or do as well or as cheaply). From customers, government then became partners with the private sector to better do the public's business.

Of late, public bodies have themselves adopted the methods and the ethos of the private entrepreneur. But far from advancing the prosperity of the people, such governments seek to securing the prosperity of governments by swelling the tax base. This is a perversion of government purpose; as I note in more than one of the pieces below, what is good for, say, the City of Springfield often is not good for the city of Springfield.

Click on the title for the full article.

To leave an article and return to this page, click on your browser's back button

Betting with Other Players’ Chips

TIF projects are a bad bet for public schools

"Dyspepsiana" Illinois Times February 12, 2014

Such a Deal

The State of Illinois makes a bad bet on Sears
"Dyspepsiana" Illinois Times January 26, 2012

Sears Moves to Beijing

Paying Sears to move is a bad deal for Illinois

“Prejudices” Illinois Times August 17, 1989

The Public Enterprise System

Of the developers, by the developers,