Public Service in Belgium and Missouri
On KY3 in Springfield and in the newspapers, I have called for a reduction in the number of state employees as one solution to resolving the budget deficit. I understand the opposing argument (made by people who might even philosophically agree with me): that a recession is the worst possible time to add former government workers to the unemployment rolls, especially when the state unemployment fund is close to going broke right now.
However, tough economic times are also just about the only time there is a real opportunity to reduce the number of government employees at all. When times are good and budgets fat, nobody says, “Hey, jobs are easy to come by; let’s fire the worst 10 percent of the public payroll and reduce both the size of government and the tax burden, right here and now!” Sometimes, you get a combination of factors that actually helps to make some reductions successful, as was the case for Gov. Blunt. He deserves great credit for that, even though it was nothing quite like the radical reduction in non-public-safety-related government employees that we need right now, in my opinion.
I don’t mean to single out Missouri state government employees, in contrast to local, state, or federal bureaucrats thoughout the county — which gets me to the point of this post. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a hysterical article about government workers in Belgium, and their abuse of sick leave. Read the whole thing.
It’s funny in many ways, but in a bigger way, it is just pathetic. This is what socialism (or quasi-socialism) does to people: It takes their initiative away, and any sense they might have of controlling their own destiny, all in the name of equality and fairness. So, you eventually get a nation of losers who can’t go to work because they are depressed that their girlfriend dumped them. No wonder InBev is actually run by Brazilians. …
I totally agree with the incentive problem of socialism (or quasi-socialism). There is a similar problem any time there’s a disconnect between customers and producers. Many large, private companies are so bureaucratic, they face similar problems to govt organizations. I found a great article that points out how some people find their incentive removed due to their work being averaged with other people in their department. It really is a fantastic article with some great free market lessons in wealth creation and the like.
Comment by Josh Smith — January 9, 2009 @ 1:57 p.m.
I have to admit, I took a laugh when I read the article, it’s satirical, purely ridicule… It’s no longer that you could build an economy, chasing depressed workers who can really care less about production forecasts. Those are among others, the consequences of dragging, and sticking to a quasi-socialism system, which history already painted the lackings and inefficiencies, throughout many different social structures, in almost every single country that ever dared to adopt it. Bottom line is, unions have never been an asset to a free market economy, main reason why they are unsucessful in capitalistic markets. Laws need to be changed, and rewards/incentives measures should be adopted to educate the workforce, setup goals and deadlines, and just allow employers to get rid of lousy and lazy employees without any risks of huge budget losses to their companies.
But, I do have to admit that some mornings, I’ve really wished I could be a Belgian.
Comment by Clovis Ouangraoua — January 9, 2009 @ 3:51 p.m.
Its not just Belgium – any of the continental and Scandanavian countries is beset by these issues. Employees accept a lower relative pay structure to Anglo-Saxon models in return for this generous safety net. While I agree it makes no sense, there is something to be said on an individual level for 6 weeks of vacation every year.
Comment by Mike — January 12, 2009 @ 2:50 a.m.