> "Nigel Stanley" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >And my point is that what can make money for a company owner (eg poor > >customer service, high tolerance of faulty products or services) may > >not be that great for customers. > > Quite true. But we were talking about efficiency. > > A business exists to make profits, not to keep customers happy (unless > that adds to the profits). Businesses tend to make more profits by > being more efficient. > > Whereas an MP's main aim is to get re-elected. He can do this by > keeping a majority of voters happy, but unfortunately seems usually to > try to achieve this by bribing them with their own money which tends > not to lead to efficiency for the country IMHO. > > Adrian
That's clear then. Markets generate businesses that don't primarily serve the customer, only to the extent that it generates profit. Democracy at least tries to keep the customer happy. But I know Adrian will want the last word, and as we're way off topic, I'll just make one last point about public sector efficiency, and what a slippery concept it is. If you double class sizes, but that only leads to a deterioration of exam results by a third, you have increased efficiency - even if the population is less educated. -- Nigel Stanley
