"I [forget] that not everyone follows Bush-era privatization stories as obsessively as I do," apologizes Paul Krugman. "The IRS is turning to private collection agencies to collect taxes, even though they will keep more than 20 percent of the proceeds (compared with 3 percent overhead costs if the work was done by the I.R.S.). It’s both a stark example of privatization gone mad, and a throwback to the days of the Ancien Regime." Forgetting all other considerations, when evaluating whether a good or service is better provided by the public or private sectors, you have to keep in mind the private sector's need to turn a profit. So if company X is 6% more efficient than the government at doing something, but will take a 12% cut for profit, you're better off leaving the service in public hands. Meanwhile, I was going to whine about how how I want Krugman to update his blog more, but seriously: What sort of content expectations have blogs wrought? The dude does two column a week and now puts up about five blog posts as well. What am I expecting here? --Ezra Klein