

State Budgets: The Day of Reckoning - 60 Minutes - chailatte
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/19/60minutes/main7166220.shtml

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schwit
Bureau of Labor Stats and US census:

$13k=pension for private sector worker in NY state

$27k=pension for public sector worker in NY state

Pensions will push states to declare bankruptcy. Illinois is the worst and I
am surprised any business will do business with them since they are so far
behind in paying its bills.

~~~
gte910h
Cost of harvesting a watermelon = $1.43 Cost of harvesting a grape = $0.002

Public sector jobs are different than private sector jobs. Looking at things
as if they're the same just gives you crappy numbers. They often require more
training, better education and suffer more from high turnover. That private
sector number has every grocery store bagger and gas pump attendant in it too.

For almost every category of worker, that same level of training and education
pays _less_ and has _worse_ benefits, retirement included in the public
sector.

~~~
gwright
You're right that it doesn't make sense to compare the groups at an aggregate
level but look at [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-
pay_N...](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm)
for an attempt to look at comparable job catagories.

For example, registered nurses working for the government received $74,460 per
year while in the private sector, the number is $63,780.

The same study found some occupations where the private sector paid more
(airline pilots, lawyers).

There is a nice table there with a breakdown by occupation.

So it seems like the issue is a bit more complicated than the headlines would
suggest. Imagine that.

~~~
gte910h
Breakdown by occupation even doesn't yield good numbers.

You have to also breakdown experience, etc. People with the experience of many
of those federal workers make significantly more in the private sector.

This feels like an innumerate reporter making comparisons without a
statistician telling them what they really mean.

~~~
gwright
Seems like you would have to control for productivity in order incorporate
experience into the comparison.

Hiring a more educated or experienced person for a job in which their
education or experience doesn't lead them to be more productive in that
particular position is just inefficiency. On the other hand if their
experience leads them to be more efficient in their job then it would make
sense to pay them more.

I can totally agree with you that you have to be pretty careful when drawing
conclusions from these sorts of studies.

Personally I would be pleasantly surprised to read an accurate study that
showed that the government was more efficient with its payroll than the
private sector. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

