Monopoly's are bad unless, of course, you own them

I posted a blip on Facebook a few weeks ago that lit up the comment section. It read: Wouldn’t it be powerful if Democrats worried a bit more about efficiency for gov’t and Republicans worried a bit more about equity for people? The comment section rewarded me with everything from ‘don’t pretend that government is a business” to “amen, brother.”

It is fascinating to me that there is a constant battle between ‘equity’ and ‘efficiency’, in the classic economic sense, that continues regardless of who is in power, what party controls what level of government, or any other factor. For some reason, it seems to me that the stakeholders–often labor for Democrats and business for Republicans–find it easier to prod each party to ‘stay in line’ with their primary orientation–either ‘equity’ or ‘efficiency’. That’s not to say, of course, that there aren’t passion, progressive and insightful Democrats or labor activists who don’t get riled up about ‘efficiency’ in government, not Republicans and business who don’t get whipped up about ‘equity’, but in general the stereotype seems to hold.

And it drives me nuts. Government is a monopoly and it can get out of whack on the equity/efficiency scale easily. But elections put pressure to care about that balance.

Still, do we have to choose? Of course not, but there seems at times to be a lack of interest in jumping to the ‘other’ quadrant when your stakeholders seem intellectually uninterested in the topic.

So is it true that Democrats carry mostly about equity in government programs, policies and politics? Is it true that Republicans seem to be most inspired to tackle questions of efficiency? Perhaps. But the cliche holds sufficient truth that we need to change the game.

It’s easy to rhetorically slash and burn, as evidenced by Tim Eyman, but engaging in a more meaningful dialogue about how to make equity and efficiency legitimate issues for both sides of the aisle is important.

I’ve already been accused by some insiders of being too interested in making government reforms and focusing on efficiency. Perhaps. Yet I’m convinced we can’t convey to the 7 million people of our state where we need additional investments (such as education) without a parallel strategy of ensuring the dollars are spent more effectively. Government is a monopoly, and without some pressure from real people living real lives to make it work better, the inefficiencies will grow and grow until the crisis hits.

We no longer have luxury of D’s worrying about equity for people without health care, housing, food, a good school and more and not recognizing the importance of running those programs well. Republicans no longer have the room to complain about inefficiencies without recognizing that so many people are hurting and need help with this mortgage crisis, jobs, education and training.

In classic economics, equity versus efficiency plays out in a constant struggle. In politics today, we have to seek both with equal fervor, passion and conviction.