I’m hard pressed to think of examples of privatized state function where a) efficiency increases and b) the state continues to fulfill its function. The case could probably be made for some charter schools in some places, but turning the whole public school system into charter schools sounds scary to me.

Walmart got to NOLA with water quicker than the government, but Walmart did not have a plan nor was it equipped to deliver thee necessary relief services–let alone manage an evacuation. Are there are other Walmart examples? I may not be reading your reference right.

Also I think we’ve gotta remember that for nearly 30 yrs now, since Reagan, there has been a trend towards denuding government of its ability to deliver its functions. If you don’t fund enforcement of environmental regs, civil rights, etc. and you place ideologues in charge of those state functions, you end up with a government that seems more wasteful and ineffective than anything else.

I look at Walmart’s responses to recent natural disasters as a great example. It’s easy (for me at least) to imagine just how bad that could turn out, but it’s also hard not to scoff at the public sector’s ineptitude.