You Don't Always Get What You Pay for: The Economics of Privatization (Century Foundation Books (Cornell Paperback))

by Elliott D. Sclar

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Today, nearly all public services--from schools and hospitals to prisons, fire departments, and sanitation--are considered fair game for privatization. Proponents argue that private firms responding to competitive market pressures will provide better service at lower cost. While this assertion has caused much controversy, the debate has consisted mainly of impassioned defenses of entrenched positions on all sides.

You Don't Always Get What You Pay For changes the contours of this debate. Elliott D. Sclar offers a balanced look at the pitfalls and promises of public sector privatization in the United States. Describing the underlying economic dynamics of how public agencies and private organizations actually work together, he provides a rigorous analysis of the assumptions behind the case for privatization.

The competitive-market model may seem appealing, but Sclar warns that it does not address the complex reality of contracting for government services. Using specific examples such as mail service and urban transportation, he shows that, in an ironic twist, privatization does not shrink government--the broader goal of many of its own champions. He also demonstrates that there is more to consider in providing these services than trying to achieve efficiency; there are issues such as equity and access that cannot be ignored.

Sclar believes that public officials and voters will soon realize the limitations of "contracting out" just as private corporations have come to understand the drawbacks of outsourcing. After examining the effectiveness of alternatives to privatization, he offers suggestions for improving public sector performance--advice he hopes will be heeded before it is too late.

A Century Foundation Book

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4 out of 5 stars

Excellently written critique of privatization, 2001-04-02
This is an excellently-written critique of privatization. In case after case, Sclar reveals that all is not as it might seem, and that beneath the apparition of improved efficiency lies a different reality supporters of privatization might not want revealed.

The book does not tell the whole story. Sclar has long been a critic of privatization, and he frankly doesn't highlight the successes of privatization -- and these certainly do exist. I don't really think there is a case to be made specifically "for privatization" or "anti-privatization," but a requirement for more balanced analysis, which has not been present in the output of privatization advocates. There is also a need to examine ways that the public sector can be made more efficient without necessarily bringing in a privatization approach.

Sclar provides a valuable service in laying out a series of critical paths in an uncommonly well-written text, and prompts readers to ask the difficult questions. Well worth reading. If you are specifically interested in public transportation, also take a look at my new book -- The Private Provision of Public Transport -- available through Amazon.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars An Island of Wisdom in a Sea of Disinformation, 2000-06-28
Neck-deep in ideologically driven rhetoric about how privatization is as American as motherhood and apple pie and must be good for you? Frustrated at knowing there's more to this but you would need an un-bought economist to help you understand the real story? Help is here. Buy this book. Read, mark, learn, inwardly digest. . . . Sclar is going to have an impact on this debate. His parsing of the issues is a great start and, what's best, this book is going to stimulate more like it. This is the beginning of the skeptical and critical assay of the issues. Go for it. You too can now begin to build your own informed voice to start the shaping of a balanced dialogue. (By the way, the point is well made that improvement of public sector services, not just resistance to privatization initiatives, is the course we must set.)

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and complete, 2000-06-14
This is a well rounded review of the privatization of government. It provides a good backdrop for the analysis of alternative privatization schemes, while using anectodes to make the point.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Sclar Makes it All So Easy, 2000-05-16
In his book, Elliott Sclar takes complex obtuse economic theories and makes them comprehensible for the rest of us. He adds a new element to the on-going debate on privitization. A must read for anyone new to the field and even those who are already in it. It is even a fairly interesting read for those in no way affiliated with the field.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Sclar Makes It Seem So Easy, 2000-05-15
In his book, Elliott Sclar takes complex economic theories and makes them comprehensible for the rest of us. He provides compelling new arguments against privitization, and adds new depth to the on going debate. A must for people entering the field and even those already in the field.

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