Uwe E. Reinhardt: How Efficient Is Private Charity? - NYTimes.com: "Although in absolute dollar terms the United States ranks high in that category as well, as a percentage of G.D.P. many European nations outrank us (see Table 1, Annex A, on page 7).
Citizens of other countries may remind us that there is a trade-off between channeling dollars from citizens to charitable or civic activities through the government’s budget and channeling these funds through the budgets of private organizations that we label charitable, whether they truly support charitable or civic activities.
Many charitable or civic activities financed in the United States with private giving are financed elsewhere through government — health care, education and museums among them.
Why do Americans make so different a trade-off between private charity and government than people in most other nations?
One persuasive reason is that through private charitable giving, the donor can direct where his or her funds go. Americans do not trust their government as much as citizens elsewhere seem to. Yet it is not always clear in whose pockets private charitable donations end up.
A second reason is that many Americans have the notion that private charities are more efficient than government can ever be.
My experience is that to many Americans this notion, which is nothing more than a hypothesis, is an axiom, a statement so self-evident that it does not require proof.
The relative efficiency of private “charity” and tax-financed governmental “charity” is an empirical question. The proper criterion is what fraction of our charitable donations actually flows directly to the activities that we seek to support."
I find it strange this article of faith that ALL private operations are inherently more efficient than ALL government ones. When I hear this, I ask the person if they've ever tried to question their cable bill, or, even worse, tried to change providers! Sphere: Related Content
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