A fantastic piece from Reason magazine:
“In an open
marketplace, a business that doesn't evolve to offer better goods and services
at ever-more-affordable prices simply won't survive. That reality is
particularly well-understood in places like Silicon Valley, which has been
shaped by a folk understanding of Moore's Law, named for Intel co-founder
Gordon Moore, who first observed in the 1970s that the number of transistors
that fit on a computer chip doubles every two years, yielding cheaper and more
powerful computers at a rapid rate. The result is a world in constant motion
where risk taking is rewarded almost above all else….
But while virtually
all industries are engaged in a constant race to meet consumer needs, there's
one sector where no such impetus need be present. "Governments never tear
up any old law; they stay on the books seemingly forever," Thierer says.
As a result, taxpayers at the federal, state, and local levels end up getting
the same or worse services at higher and higher prices—exactly the opposite of
what happens in the private sector.”