Question

Discuss the myths and realities of public employment in the United States. Please answer in 250 words or more.

Answer 1

Myth- Government employees are overpaid.

Reality- The Economic Policy Institute assessed the age, experience, and qualifications of state and local public workers against their peers in the private sector. They find that they earn about 11 percent less from public workers. Public workers had better benefits on average, but public workers were still 4 percent behind private sector counterparts even when health care and retirement were included. Despite their education and experience, arguments that state and local government employees are overpaid frequently fail to account. Fifty-four percent have a college degree of at least four years, compared to 35% in the private sector.

Myth- The federal deficit is out of control.

Reality- The Facts: It's true that the budget deficit this year — projected to be 10.3 percent of U.S. economic activity is the highest since World War II. Whether this is an issue depends on your time frame and how we address it. The only thing that kept the economy from cratering in 2008 was short-term government spending. A second Great Depression held off. With no growth in the private sector in sight, in the foreseeable future, public spending will be the only catalyst for job creation. Apart from the pain caused by high unemployment, no jobs mean no tax collection recovery and thus a widening deficit.

Myth- The private sector is more efficient than government.

Reality- Lawyers say that outsourcing will save money. Yet truth is not so clear-cut after more than two decades of experience. In tandem with contract management and administration costs, cost overruns also make outsourcing more costly than in-house services. More than one in five local governments had previously brought outsourced services back home, according to an International City / County Management Association report in 2007. As a primary reason, inadequate cost savings have been cited in most situations. And where contracting out creates savings, they usually come from lower salaries so employee benefits— not some perceived innate business dominance.