Europe is taking a page from the U.S. playbook. “Local governments, desperate to find a way to preserve… (historic) sites before it is too late,” the Washington Post reports, “are making up for budget shortfalls by hanging ads, selling usage rights and, in some cases, putting the structures themselves on the market.” In France, the caretakers of Versailles … Read More
Every June the Campaign for America’s Future hosts the well-attended and content-rich Take Back America Conference in Washington, D.C. This year Van Jones, one of the most dynamic speakers in America, with a list of accomplishments long enough that I’ll simply refer you to Wikipedia, delivered an inspiring Keynote Address in which he offered his perspective … Read More
A new video, released on June 15th by the Canadian Union for Public Employees proves you can communicate a big idea–the privatization of municipal services–by looking at the issue through the eyes of school children. The 5 minute video, made by Winnipeg artists Sean and Christian Procter, uses a light touch and animated figures to convey … Read More
A private corporation has one legal obligation: to maximize the return to its shareholders. As Milton Friedman famously remarked, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profit….” A city is also legally structured as a corporation, but a municipal corporation has a … Read More
The hottest phrase on the campaign trail right now is “private equity”. Mitt Romney made his hundreds of millions as head of Bain Capital, a major private equity firm and insists the company has created jobs and improved the efficiency of the American economy. President Obama just as strongly insists that Bain and other private equity … Read More
In May 1998 the European Union voted to adopt a single European currency. A few days later David Morris set down his thoughts about that momentous decision from a local self-reliance perspective. Fourteen years later, as Greece and Europe revisit the costs and benefits of the Euro, we thought it appropriate to offer that column on … Read More
On May 15, 2012 Mark Jamison wrote a heartfelt valedictory letter to his community. He begins, “It’s likely that I will be the last postmaster to serve the town of Webster, North Carolina.” And goes on to tell us what he thinks the post office was and should be and what it is becoming. As most … Read More
Still one more empirical study finds that privatization costs taxpayers dearly. This time the issue is school bus transportation. In a new report, Runaway Spending: Private Contractors Increase the Cost of School Student Transportation Services in Pennsylvania the Keystone Research Center concludes, “Contracting out substantially increases state spending on transportation services. We estimate that if all … Read More
Both chambers of the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature are pushing to privatize that state’s prisons. Like a similar bill introduced by Florida Republicans that was narrowly defeated, the Michigan bill would require shifting 1200 inmates to a private prison if 10 percent savings would be gained. The Detroit Free Press published an Opinion piece by Michigan … Read More
