Where Clinton Beats W.

WHILE private businesses rise and fall depending on the quality of their products, government workers can slog away in their cubicles without ever confronting competitive pressure. This makes a government job one of the most secure positions in the universe. The numbers are striking. The median tenure for federal employees is 9.9 years, compared with 3.6 years in the private sector.

Because of this, one of the most important measures of the size of our government is based on a simple head count. Since government workers stay put so long, their numbers add up to a massive debt owed by future taxpayers. Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Give him a government job and he can take your fish for a lifetime.

About the Author

Kevin A. Hassett

Kevin A. Hassett was the senior adviser to National Review’s Capital Matters and was the Brent R. Nicklas Distinguished Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution.

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WHILE private businesses rise and fall depending on the quality of their products, government workers can slog away in their cubicles without ever confronting competitive pressure. This makes a government job one of the most secure positions in the universe. The numbers are striking. The median tenure for federal employees is 9.9 years, compared with 3.6 years in the private sector.

Because of this, one of the most important measures of the size of our government is based on a simple head count. Since government workers stay put so long, their numbers add up to a massive debt owed by future taxpayers. Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Give him a government job and he can take your fish for a lifetime.

About the Author

Kevin A. Hassett

Kevin A. Hassett was the senior adviser to National Review’s Capital Matters and was the Brent R. Nicklas Distinguished Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution.