So you are also arguing there is no real difference between public and private as the two are normally defined?
The UK has a very large number of 'unemployed' who do nothing much. It is highly perverse that anyone argue they need to import labour in these circumstances. This should be prevented, particularly from outside the eu as this tends to have long term immigration implications. However that still leaves us with an oversupply of labour twiddling their thumbs. The argument for a bloated public state is that it is better they be paid to do something than paid to do nothing. This is indeed an argument advanced by the current government, though they do not quite seem to have grasped this logical conclusion.
Now 'bloated' has a connotation that a lot of people are employed to do something which could be done by far fewer. I am not in favour of that, but what evidence exists that it is true?
It's axiomatic we don't need immigrants when we're on the way to 4 million unemployed, & 2.5 million on the sick!:smile:
This creates an environment where economic pressures can turn into racial tensions.
How about employing more people to seek out & deport illegals? It'll never be done, but at least would create jobs, create new job vacancies (though of course immigration creates its own employment), & reduce the UK carbon footprint!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325013/Migrants-took-9-10-jobs-created-Labour.html
That would keep people in work for 5+ years.
The other option - protectionist led investment would never be done either.
The public sector doesn't like the pay cuts & loss of benefits, which the private sector is FORCED to take, because of COMPETITION - so that's why they're laid off instead.
Take the police & fire services. There are complete inefficiencies regarding staffing & overtime, & in the case of fire services, the number of actual fires has halved in the last 20-30 years, but we still have the same number of firemen, basically sitting on their arse all day, & having enough time for second jobs. Why not go the French route, & combine a fire/ambulance/paramedic service (which is exactly what they don't want)?
I think the fact that even one of the fire service chiefs called most of his employees workshy, halved his force, & increased productivity, is a telling example.
Many quangos duplicate services & reports already being provided elsewhere.
I recommend you read the book "Squandered" for a thorough analysis!
The idiot Gordon Brown did not help by raising benefits, in the good times to buy votes, to levels which could never be sustained in the bad times, & similarly employed more people in the public sector, whilst cheerfully waving goodbye to over a million service sector jobs offshored.
Perhaps an EU insistence that all service sector employees offshored are paid the EU equivalent might bring back some of those roles.
The only time that you can keep people in roles, & it's not technically cost effective, is where the contribution is still providing value for money - i.e take away the fixed & committed costs from any financial consideration, less any value of potential redeployment.
There is no doubt that the destruction of the manufacturing sector by the Tories, continued by Labour (who added the service sector outsourcement of jobs), & still being carried out by the Coalition will result in a longer period of mass unemployment, as no country/civilisation in history has ever succesfully moved out of an economic slump without exporting more than it imports.
It's been cloud cuckooland for years. We have a massive trade deficit - we are now reliant on imports - we've lost the skill & knowledge base - & are wholly reliant on an artificially strong currency to import what are effectively hugely subsidised goods in order to maintain are standard of living.
Ally this to £60Bn/ann interest alone, or over £2,000/ann for every worker, student debts which effectively mean 40% of the over 20s will be paying 10% of their net income on debt, rising to 15% soon, & I really can't see any increase in net domestic demand, house price rises, or increase in personal wealth/living standards at all.
In fact, it will & must decline.
So therefore, keeping penpushers, or whoever, working in public services, other than the general basic maintenance of the country, is simply an unaffordable luxury.
We need to make & create. That's where funds should be targeted - that's where longer term employment will come from, because if the economy declines further we won't be able to afford as many public services anyway.
The best analagy is having a cleaner - if you can't afford it any more, unless you're an idiot -you get rid of them, & try to manage yourself.