Behind the numbers

Reader comment on: Amity Shlaes on the New Jobscape

Submitted by ben (United States), Feb 17, 2010 14:30

While her thesis may in fact be correct, I would be curious to dig a little deeper into the story. The Federal government increasingly outsources its menial and low paying jobs (custodians, food service etc), which pushes up the average wage of those left around. Also, a more accurate comparison would be to compare federal workers with their counterparts in the private sector. Do those with a college education, a prerequisite for almost all government jobs, make more or less than those in the private sector with an equivalent education? What about Ph.D's and MBA's? My guess would be that when accounting for education levels, government workers make less than their counterparts. However, government workers receive other benefits the private sector does not, most importantly increased job security. This a tradeoff many people make, and other refuse to make. Of course, another argument could be made that paying people more attracts more talented people who would be less willing to deal in a corrupt way, which is something we want in our government. . .

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