[Dan Evans]

Much, if not most, of the work done in these programs is contracted to the private sector.

The problem is, government calls the shots and decides what is to be built. If they say "build a white elephant", the private sector will build the best white elephant money can buy.

The other problem is that, more and more, the government sets all kinds of conditions for contractors. They have to employ the correct percentage of women and minorities, they have to be sensitive to environmental correctness. And all of these things adversely affect safety.

[chimera]

The poster I responded to seemed to emphasize "selling services", and I pointed out that they already do that. You are free to characterize the quality of the projects in any manner you choose, but my point stands. "The private sector" (everyone bow and genuflect) still does the work. Everyone doing the work to realize those projects is employed by a "private company" (bow).

FWIW, the work I have done with NASA, most of the line engineers are reasonably competent. Trouble is, they start up the ladder and become bean counters more than engineers. That happens in the private sector, too, but in the public sector you are further hobbled by bureaucracy and politics. Long-term planning becomes mostly a meaningless exercise when your timeline is a two-year horizon. Then again, the private sector can have much shorter time horizons, such as the next quarterly report.