State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

What Government Can Learn From Business

Governing: The column I wrote in December on the "enduring myth" that government should be run like a business generated a lot of reaction -- more, in fact, than any in the five-plus years that I have written in this space. The level of response and the thoughtfulness of the rejoinders convinced me that the narrow perspective I had taken, and the limitations of an 800-word column format, almost demanded that I give it another try.

My main point in the prior column, expressed in the aftermath of the election of a president who had touted his business success as a qualification for leading the federal government, was to suggest that the experience of running a private-sector enterprise (perhaps especially a family business) does not translate directly to the challenges of leading a government.

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