Scottish Sense

Here's something that my American readers may find surprising - the UK is not enamoured of pure market forces. "Socialists!" you cry, but not so fast. They aren't exactly fans of pure socialist economics either. Trust a Scotsman or two (like Gordon Brown) putting pragmatic reality before ideaology to figure out what's best for making money. Three cheers for the mixed economy.

This via Independence blog, quoting another Scottish blogger, Cabalamat Journal:

Some people might generalise... by saying that doing things in the public sector is in general better (i.e. more efficient) than the private sector.

These people are wrong; they are exactly as wrong as people who generalise "public sector bad, private sector good". People with both afflictions generally get that way because they develop an emotional attachment for (or against) a particular form of social organisation, and then assume it must always be a good (or bad) thing.

Sensible people know that a mixed economy is the best way to go forward, because we live in a complex world, and there are no simple solutions that fit every problem. Imagine if you were a carpenter and you decided that you only needed one tool so you threw away your saws and screwdrivers, and used a hammer to fix every problem.

"Emotional attachment"...aye, that's whit Ah've seen.