starbet777 The Differences Between Running a Business and Running the Government

To the Editor:

Re “Why Running the Government Like a Business Won’t Work,” by Ray Fisman (Opinion guest essay, Dec. 9):

Two essential differences between business and government were overlooked: The goal of business is to make a profit. The goal of our government is to serve the people. These are not irreconcilable differences but undergird the raison d’être and trajectory of each.

Risa MandellAmbler, Pa.

To the Editor:

The government takes on projects and risks that no private enterprise would tackle because there are no economic incentives to do so. Examples: disaster preparedness, pure scientific research, architectural innovation (the General Services Administration is one of the largest landlords in the world) and many more.

Wherever the common good is more important than specific earnings from specific products, government is generally the only mechanism available to accomplish goals. Eviscerate it at your peril, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump!

John MartinNovato, Calif.

To the Editor:

In his opening line Ray Fisman categorizes Elon Musk as a businessman and goes on to hypothesize why his involvement in making the government more efficient could be a disaster, stating that the problem is that what business does “is usually simpler than what the government does.”

In the case of Mr. Musk, what he does with his SpaceX rockets and Starlink satellites is not simpler than what the government is even capable of, necessitating the government to engage his companies to do it.

Among national universities, Princeton was ranked No. 1 again, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Stanford, which tied for third last year, fell to No. 4. U.S. News again judged Williams College the best among national liberal arts colleges. Spelman College was declared the country’s top historically Black institution.

A major Business article in The Times on Dec. 9 is “How China’s Carmakers Overtook the World.” Mr. Musk’s pioneering Tesla is the only U.S. company holding its own in this category on the world stage, and in the subcategories of battery technology and charging stations.

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