LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Privatization: Costs
built 643 days ago
Most arguments for the privatization of prisons revolve around one issue: efficiency. The purpose of privatization of any government undertaking is to improve the quality of the service provided without increasing the costs, or to decrease the costs without decreasing the quality of service. It is mainly on the strength of claims to efficiency that prison privatization expands in scope.
Source:
Although the term privatization has come to mean simply transferring tasks previously performed by government employees to private for-profit firms, the concept is much broader than that. It involves applying the discipline of competition to the public sector, but not necessarily to move services to private contractors if government employees and agencies prove to be the lowest cost, best quality provider. The appropriate strategy should be to transform the role of government from a monopoly provider of services to a purchaser of services from whatever set of public, business, or nonprofit providers is in the best interest of citizens.
Source:
Proponents argue that prison privatization can cut costs while maintaining or improving the quality of correctional services. But a mounting body of research shows that these promises have not been met. Justice Strategies researchers have examined the impact of privatization at the state and national level, and documented the industry's role in promoting rapid prison population growth.
Source:
Quality usually decreases under privatization because private managers cut corners to reduce costs. They tend to hire inexperienced, low-paid workers who do not get training on how to do the job right. Also, the low pay, poor working conditions, and lack of union representation often cause high turnover of employees.
Source:
Combining these two approaches - British privatization and American deregulation of an integrated system - should provide a viable solution to the Amtrak problem. Those who need trains will get better ones, ones with brakes that work, while the nation will be spared a serious drain of cash (the Acela problem alone is costing $1 million a week).
Source:
Faced with tight budgets, many government officials and politicians see privatization as a quick fix. But in the long run, privatization often ends up costing taxpayers more, while putting private profit ahead of the public interest.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Costs