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tikihiki t1_jacyew5 wrote

Reply to comment by Neoliberalism2024 in Consultants Gone Wild by ToffeeFever

I agree that seems to be low, and they need more evidence that this is the problem. But the idea is the consultants lack the expertise, continuity, and most importantly, the incentives to carry out projects efficiently.

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Neoliberalism2024 t1_jad6aa4 wrote

What incentive do government employees have? They cant be fired for performing badly, and can’t be rewarded much for performing well. If they spend too much money, they just ask for more money (as opposed to a private company where your execs get fired when expenses get out of hand).

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tikihiki t1_jad9ag3 wrote

Government employees are "incentive-neutral", as they aren't rewarded or held accountable for what they do. In an ideal world this could change (better rewards, pride in public service), but that's a whole other story.

But consultants have negative incentives, as they are specifically rewarded for not getting things done, not spending efficiently, asking for more funding - that wasted money ends up back in their own hands.

Yea, you could argue that because of corruption, connections, bribes, the government employees have those same negative incentives. But that's why honing in on outsourcing could be an approach to fixing these problems. Make it harder to sign these contracts, and easier to hire full time staff.

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