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challenge -> (10/24/2003 5:43:52 PM)
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Yes they were, Bell. At least most of the things on your list were. Along with road building projects and other public works. Of course there weren't as many people using them, which ruduced the infrastructure overhead a lot, but historically many of those icons of modern civilization weren't what I would call -- effective.
The administrative overhead was lower as well. and the decentralized population also made it easier to perform such tasks on a local level. Town constabularyand fire brigades have been around before the fire of London (1666); Boston had a public school as early as 1635. Other examples of the items on your lists also exisit.
While I agree it costs a lot less to maintain a road used by horses and wagons than one used by automobiles and trucks, for example, administrative costs for the infrastructure always increase faster than the number of participants of a program. For example, a school with a single teacher really doesn't need much in the way of administration, but put in 10 teachers and increase the students and building maintenance, and the need to coordinate school activities, means increasing the cost per student for non-educational costs. Every government program carries a hugh administration cost for implimentation and oversight.
I think our programs are more inclusive and extensive than in the past, but that also increases the cost. As of now, the fastest growing budget item in the school systems around the country is administrative cost. The second fastest is testing -- but with the emphasis on standized testing that's understandable.
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