Thư Gửi Chính Mình tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Patrick Paredes _atrick_arb393 — Such a great postcolonial text.

Noel Benadom nbenadom — In short, (and in my opinion) the begining of the greatest fantasy series since LOTR.

Ignacio Tabó itabobbd2 — Dr. Stanger has written a fascinating exploration of how our government uses outsourcing to accomplish much of what it does. She comes across as very balanced and moderate, with a focus on the long-term. There's very little, if any, demonizing of either political side going on in One Nation under Contract. She points out that the trend toward outsourcing actually began in the Clinton years with the effort to "reinvent government" while President Bush certainly continued in that direction. Dr. Stanger champions effective public-private partnerships and highlights several success stories, but she also mentions the negatives: the lack of accountability, the opacity, the convoluted plate of spaghetti that is contractors and subcontractors and NGOs and government agencies and hybrids that no one - literally no one - truly has a handle on. Instead of reacting with short-sighted political expediency, we as a nation need to develop a long-view of what government's job is, what can be better accomplished in the private sector, and how to regulate and organize oversight to ensure that tax dollars are being spent appropriately. If we're going to award billions of dollars of contracts to private firms, there ought to be true competition for the contracts. Outsourcing ought to be pursued when it is truly the best, most efficient and cost-effective path to meeting the goal at hand, not because it is the "path of least political resistance." A great deal of good can come out of the private sector and she suggests several ways for government to encourage that, or simply to lower barriers and get out of the way. Dr. Stanger beats the drum of transparency over and over again, with good reason. An environment of opacity encourages lack of efficiency at best and corruption at worst. Clear lines of decision-making authority would prevent stagnancy and confusion, especially during a crisis. Dr. Stanger proposes "demilitarizing" American foreign policy as well. Because the Pentagon is so powerful and has so many resources, it is often the default actor, even when other approaches may be more appropriate. My quibbles with the book are rather silly and are going to make me sound old. The print was too small, the chapters too long. There's so much data that it gets overwhelming - just break it down a little further into easier bites. The information is incredibly valuable and important, but I found myself going cross-eyed trying to read; maybe I need better glasses. And it was a bit dry and academic occasionally. For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.