Many years ago, I was involved in a panel discussion about the decline of the American automobile industry. One participant summarized his position by stating, “People making $7 an hour can’t afford to buy cars assembled by people making $20. It’s that simple.”
A bit oversimplified, in my opinion, but it has some merit. By the same token, the gist applies to the failure of the federal government and the economy.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published results of a study this year that compared compensation of jobs in the government to like positions in the private sector. The average compensation (wages and benefits) for the former was $108,476 compared to only $69,926 in the latter, not even factoring in the overstaffing, lack of accountability, hiring of underqualified candidates, low performance standards, etc. commonly found in government.
Two things to keep in mind. It’s not some outside fringe group with an axe to grind conducting the study. The BLS is part of the government (Department of Labor). Secondly, the government has bloated their staff by almost a quarter million in the past couple years.
So, you’re paying (wasting) a 55% premium for government services before you even compute for inefficiencies. How long can you afford to do that?
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