And government has a special obligation to exercise stewardship over the resources it compels from people. This is not so in other sectors of the economy. People are not forced to purchase specific goods and services in the market. They are able to exercise personal choice. No such choice exists with respect to taxation.
Individuals do that, day after day.
So do companies. They succeed, more or less, because they face choices as consumers and competition as producers. The minimum duty of a state should be to replicate such choice and competition in its own affairs, so that the billions it raises in taxes achieve the high-sounding aims it sets for itself. The imperative to spend no more than necessary is intensified by the federal budget deficit, which threatens the living standards of future generations. Around the world, governments are using competitive contracting to apply market forces to government services, and with overwhelmingly positive results.