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Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

nytimes.com

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Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#211

Post by 24gttghh »

rjtavares wrote: post #209
24gttghh wrote: post #206

>With an unlimited budget, he went about hiring a team of researchers in Seattle and made a grant to the University of Pennsylvania to help his staff put the information together. Altogether, he has spent more than $10 million between direct funding and grants. $10 million spent so far just trying to figure out what the collective governments in the US is spending money on. Is this an argument for privatization or a…

Why do you believe an equivalent effort to figure out what the private sector is spending money on would be cheaper?

I don't; it was meant to be a jab at privatization worshippers since the second part of that, "the government has failed by not providing this information" had more meat to it.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#212

Post by ridgeguy »

24gttghh wrote: post #206

>With an unlimited budget, he went about hiring a team of researchers in Seattle and made a grant to the University of Pennsylvania to help his staff put the information together. Altogether, he has spent more than $10 million between direct funding and grants. $10 million spent so far just trying to figure out what the collective governments in the US is spending money on. Is this an argument for privatization or a…

I don't see that it's either.

If it were privatized, it would suffer from economic pressure to suppress data that conflicts with its economic incentives.

And we don't pay government (i.e., tax ourselves to provide funds) to do this. No money, no results. That's not a failure of government, it's taxpayers deciding not to have the government provide this service.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#213

Post by sjg007 »

analog31 wrote: post #51

I'd love to see the same thing done with the health care industry. I have a pet hypothesis that the financial complexity of the industry is one of the barriers to reducing costs: Nobody knows what's being spent on what, and to whom. Everybody can claim that somebody else is gouging us.

They're probably all gouging each other where in the end the retail patient with no insurance suffers bankruptcy.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#214

Post by zie »

justin66 wrote: post #116
grogenaut wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they can't track their basic budget how can they be fiscally responsible? Small govt's don't have the luxury of just printing more money.

Do you believe all local governments are fiscally responsible?

I believe they try. I don't believe they always succeed.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#215

Post by zie »

Delmania wrote: post #190
mistersys wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His approval rating was highest his first week as president: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

That's because he fired missiles in Syria and detonated the MOAB in Afghanistan. Whenever a president commits an act of war against a publicly perceived threat, their ratings get a temporary boost.

Neither of these things were done the first week of his presidency.. He started in January, it's now April, which is when these events happened...

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#216

Post by Zak »

rjtavares wrote: post #209
24gttghh wrote: post #206

>With an unlimited budget, he went about hiring a team of researchers in Seattle and made a grant to the University of Pennsylvania to help his staff put the information together. Altogether, he has spent more than $10 million between direct funding and grants. $10 million spent so far just trying to figure out what the collective governments in the US is spending money on. Is this an argument for privatization or a…

Why do you believe an equivalent effort to figure out what the private sector is spending money on would be cheaper?

When it comes to publicly-traded companies, it probably would be because they're required to make specific, comprehensive disclosures about their income and spending on a regular basis. Governments, especially local governments are much less consistent about such disclosures.

It's also reasonable to expect that a government that is elected by the public and funded by taxation provide an accounting to voters and taxpayers.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#217

Post by foxhedgehog »

24gttghh wrote: post #206

>With an unlimited budget, he went about hiring a team of researchers in Seattle and made a grant to the University of Pennsylvania to help his staff put the information together. Altogether, he has spent more than $10 million between direct funding and grants. $10 million spent so far just trying to figure out what the collective governments in the US is spending money on. Is this an argument for privatization or a…

$!0M relative to the size of the federal budget is infinitesimal.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#219

Post by gonvaled »

consz wrote: post #196
gonvaled wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not directly (the world is a complicated place) support, financially or otherwise, Apple or M$. I boycott them both whenever I get the chance. I am relatively cool about Google. I do not live in the past, but I still like to point out what happened, whenever I get the chance. They are solely to blame (with a minor role by Sun / SCO) of the mess we are in. As I already mentioned, Apple is simply evil, but is not…

I think the relevant issue with using a phrase like "M$" is it trivializes your argument. It makes your argument look childish, regardless of the actual content.

It's a good shortcut to properly summarize the previously stated arguments.

Those who know what we are talking about, understand that. If they nevertheless attack it as childish, even knowing that what lies behind is a complex story of ideology wars, propelled by lies and disinformation, are simply being dishonest.

Those who don't know what lies behind the symbolism, maybe care to inform themselves.

Re: Steve Ballmer serves up a data trove about government spending in the US

#220

Post by jsl6906 »

I'm not sure how comparable it is, but for what it's worth, the Census Bureau disseminates data on State and Local Government Finances: https://www.census.gov/govs/local/. Not particularly timely however, as the most recent data available is for 2014.
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