The National Debt Clock

[Jaysyn]

Please explain how the sectors are "so" intertwined, and how they cannot be unwoven. If I create a company, it is in the private sector. By your argument, it would also be in the public sector ("so" intertwined), but that simply isn't true. Perhaps you think that the government being a client of a private sector business means that the sectors are combined...well you'd be wrong. The government itself is an entity that is no different from any other consumer in the free market. Many government contracts go out to private companies; if the government didn't, they'd be in a nasty position.

A supposedly true anecdote that I read on Slashdot. I may have forgotten one or two details, but it made amazing sense when I read it.

Say there is a smallish manufacturing company in the US, they do still exist, you know. Basically all this small company manufactures are ball bearings. Let's call them Bearing Co since the original poster didn't name the company (his father worked for them). They are very, very good at what they do. They have insinuated themselves as the main ball bearing supplier for two of the American auto manufactures. Now this market is nice & niche, but it's not quite big enough on it's own to keep the factories running. Manufacturing is expensive. Bearing Co. also makes ball bearings for the US Navy, Boeing, etc. Highly precise bearings that are used in things like submarine props, aircraft carriers & F-18s. They may not be the only US manufacturer of ball bearings, but they are the only ones that are certified to make these military grade & sometimes top secret ball bearings. Having customers on both sides of the civilian / military fence is the only way Bearing Co. can keep it's factories running. If it's civilian side loses it's one of it's big auto manufacturer accounts, the company folds. If the company folds & the military can no longer get these highly precision ball bearings for their hardware, (and getting them from overseas is not an option, things like the vibration resistant parts that go into sub props are still top secret) then you have a national security issue.

Given this example, what would you have done in the USA's shoes? Now remember this isn't the only manufacturer in the USA that is in this position, you potentially have dozens if not hundreds of companies in similarly chaotic situations.

Also, keep in mind that the US Government are still the ones buying these parts in the end, so just raising the hardware prices across the board is probably not a viable long-term solution in keeping cost down.

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In theoretical models of capitalism, you would probably end up with some "steady state" after while, with the consumer base split between several different companies. In practice, this never happens, because all companies are run by humans (and humans make mistakes).

Interesting thought. What happens to Capitalism when they start letting AI run companies. Weak AI is already running the stock markets.