| As unemployment stubbornly sticks near 10 percent and any sort of economic recovery seems a long way off, think about this: The one part of the economy that's going gangbusters is government work. Indeed, since the Great Recession started in December 2007, over 8 million jobs have been lost in the private sector while the public sector has added at least 100000 positions. It's time to recognize that public-sector employment is killing the economy for at least three reasons: 1. They cost too much. As USA Today recently noted, federal employees make on average almost $8000 more than their private-sector counterparts. When you add in benefits, the gap spreads to about $30000. State and local government workers make around the same as private-sector counterparts, but their health and retirement packages mean they make significantly more in the end. 2. We can't fire them. The private sector has shed positions in response to slackening demand and the economic downturn. That sort of adjustment is painful but necessary, as it allows the economy to adjust to changing circumstances and workers and employers to move into new activities. Because it is guaranteed certain amounts of tax revenue and has a non-market mind-set, the public sector is largely insulated from such forces and keeps or even adds workers despite changed conditions. The result? We keep paying for things that we don't use, need, or want. 3. They create a permanent lobby for expanded government and higher taxes ... |
