I'd wager close to another 1 in 5 works for the government directly or indirectly. And I assume we're not including retirees in any of this.
The ratio of retirees to workers continues to get worse. In the 1940s, there were 42 workers per retiree. Today there are 3.3 workers per retiree.
So you have a shrinking group of people who are actually producing (total workforce minus unemployed, minus goverment workers, minus workers who exist due to government purchasing) and a growing number of people who get a chunk of that production.
Some of them produce useful goods and services, but at a drastically lower efficiency than the private sector due to lack of competition and economic incentives (spending other people´s money). Still it´s good that someone is planning out the roads and running fire departments, even if they´re bad at it. On the other hand, the government also produces a lot of counterproductive ´services´ like war, financial meltdowns, and software patents. It´s in no way obvious that government employees as a whole do less harm than good.
I think that your position is ideological and not correct. The government provides institutions that lower risk to the rest of the economy and enable more stability and growth.
Is regulatory capture a problem at some agencies? Sure. Are some departments outdated or ineffective? Sure. But it is irresponsible to look at a few cases and claim that the entire government is a problem.
You want to see less government? Visit Yemen or gangster Russia
"You want to see less government? Visit Yemen or gangster Russia"
Quite a strange statement given that the governments of both those countries are central to their problems and deeply involved in crime and corruption themselves. In Yemen the government employees shoot innocent people in broad daylight with impunity. Real libertarian haven they've got there.
I can't speak for all government agencies, but in the area of the government that I work, we have created no software patents at all. In fact nearly all the software we create is open source, and we are encouraged to use and contribute to other open source products. It's the very fact that we do not have a profit motive that allows us to do this.
I'm not saying they don't work hard. I'm just saying that there is a growing list of people whose livelihood depends on the government writing them a check and the government gets its money from taxing citizens and businesses.
If 1.5 out of 5 people are retired, 1 out of 5 people aren't working, and 1 out of 5 people work directly or indirectly for government, that's about 70% of the population surviving because the government writes them a check (probably a bit less-- some retirees actually saved money for retirement).
Because hamstringing and stifling business activity that does not comply with the interests or arbitrary whims of politically connected powers is not an economically productive activity?
The ratio of retirees to workers continues to get worse. In the 1940s, there were 42 workers per retiree. Today there are 3.3 workers per retiree.
So you have a shrinking group of people who are actually producing (total workforce minus unemployed, minus goverment workers, minus workers who exist due to government purchasing) and a growing number of people who get a chunk of that production.
This does not end well.