Study Guide to Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market

162 Study Guide to Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market
C. Resource-Using Activities
Beyond its depletion of scarce resources that consumers
would have preferred in other lines, government
provision of goods and services is deficient because it
often charges artificially low prices. For example the
chronic water and electricity shortages in summer
months, as well as everyday traffic jams, are due to
below-equilibrium prices for these crucial goods.
D. The Fallacy of Government on a “Business
Basis”
Government can never be run “as a business”
because its revenues are obtained through coercion.
Moreover, its enterprises often enjoy monopoly privileges.
E. Centers of Calculational Chaos
Even small-scale government enterprises are subject
to Mises’s critique of socialism. By severing the link
between customer and revenue, government officials
have no feedback mechanism and cannot decide, even ex
post, if they are performing properly.
F. Conflict and the Command Posts
Government enterprises necessarily cause conflict.
For example, consider the controversies over religion in
government schools. By its very nature, the government
acts on behalf of “society” and thus the lack of unanimity
on a given issue will lead to strife.