Why America Cannot Be Run Like a Business — And Why That’s a Good Thing

In an era where efficiency, profitability, and market logic are held up as ultimate virtues, there’s a seductive pull to believe that government and public systems should emulate private businesses. What’s often overlooked is that even the language we use—'efficiency,' 'profitability,' 'service delivery'—carries entirely different implications across sectors. In business, these terms point to speed, margins, and growth. In the public sector, they must be filtered through equity, inclusion, and the long arc of public accountability.

The call to "run America like a business" is not new—but today it resurfaces with renewed fervor in tech-dominated narratives that prize disruption over deliberation. Yet this proposition, though fashionable in Silicon Valley boardrooms and venture capital circles, is deeply flawed. Not only does it reflect a misunderstanding—and at times an arrogant dismissal—of the purpose and design of democratic institutions, but it also risks undermining the very fabric of the social contract.

Government Is Not a Corporation

A corporation exists to maximize shareholder value. A government exists to uphold the Constitution, protect rights, and serve all people—especially the most vulnerable. The logic of business is driven by competition, profit margins, and consumer choice. The logic of government is grounded in equity, justice, and collective responsibility.

Governments are accountable to citizens, not customers. Citizens cannot opt out of the state the way consumers can switch brands. The public sector is obligated to serve every person, including those deemed 'unprofitable' by private standards—people with disabilities, low-income communities, undocumented immigrants, and those without market power. These groups are often excluded or underserved by the private sector.

Efficiency vs. Deliberation

Businesses are designed for speed, responsiveness, and risk-taking. Government, by design, is slow, deliberative, and consensus-oriented. This is not a flaw—it is a feature. The checks and balances of governance are meant to prevent tyranny, not to maximize quarterly returns.

Our founding institutions were intentionally built to diffuse power, not concentrate it. That’s why Congress can be frustratingly slow, why courts require exhaustive due process, and why regulatory agencies must consult public stakeholders. Deliberation—with affected communities, within legal frameworks, and through interdisciplinary consultation—ensures not only more just outcomes but also preserved the integrity of the democratic process.

Can a Business Be Run Like Government?

Let’s invert the argument. Can a business be run according to a public sector paradigm—a construct rooted in civic obligation, distributive justice, and collective accountability?

Imagine a company that must:

• Provide products (Tesla?) or services to everyone, regardless of ability to pay—like public sectors obligation of free emergency care or schooling.

• Operate with full transparency and accept deep scrutiny and public input on every major decision—like open legislative hearings or FOIA disclosures.

• Respond equitably to crises, disasters, and pandemics without pricing models—like FEMA or public health departments do.

• Invest in defending the Constitution, rule of law, and human rights—even when inconvenient or costly—like public defenders or civil rights commissions.

• Employ people not based solely on productivity but in ways that reflect inclusive economic policy—like public job programs or affirmative hiring.

• Offer services and infrastructure that may never turn a profit—like public transit in rural areas or housing for unhoused individuals.

This would be a different kind of business—not one beholden to Wall Street, but to Main Street. How many businesses today can we truly name that operate this way? T

Where Can Public and Private Logics Overlap?

Governments can adopt innovation from the private sector—like iterative design and adaptive strategy—so long as it’s tempered with ethical oversight and civic responsibility. Similarly, accountability structures in business, such as board governance, can inspire stronger public oversight—though governments answer to everyone, not just investors. And in mission-driven work, nonprofits show how public values and private tools can align to deliver equity without sacrificing efficiency.

The businesses can and should incorporate public values like fairness, long-term stewardship, and equity—elements often reflected in corporate social responsibility and fair business practices. Likewise, the public sector can benefit from adaptive tools, innovation, and operational discipline found in well-run businesses. But the core paradigms remain distinct. The public sector is rooted in rights, equity, and collective obligation. The private sector is rooted in competition, markets, and profitability. These foundational logics are not interchangeable, and attempting to swap one for the other risks hollowing out both.

Public private partnerships can harness the strengths of both sectors—innovation and efficiency from the private side, with equity and accountability from the public side. When done right, they allow each to compensate for the other’s blind spots while focusing on shared outcomes that neither could achieve alone.

The Deeper Philosophical Divide

The fundamental tension is this: businesses exist in markets; governments exist in societies. Markets reward scarcity; democracies must ensure abundance—of rights, opportunity, and dignity. Businesses can choose their customers; governments cannot choose their citizens.

As someone who has worked in multisector in health, human rights, public private partnerships, community organizing, and philanthropic investments, I’ve learned that not everything valuable can be measured in quarterly profits, productivity metrics, or user engagement. In the public sector, however, value often lies in what is intangible—like democratic resilience, social cohesion, or human dignity. The soul of the public sector lies in the intangible: trust, justice, civic duty. These are not business metrics, but they are the bedrock of a functioning society.

To argue that a nation should be run like a business is to mistake citizens for consumers, democracy for branding, and justice for cost-efficiency. It is not bold leadership—it is a category error.

Conclusion: The Right Tools for the Right Job

In strategy and governance, form must follow function. Just as we wouldn’t run a hospital like a hedge fund, we should not run a democracy like a startup. The private sector has much to offer—but not at the cost of public values.

Can we imagine and forge a future where business and government each excel in their own domains, and where their intersection serves, rather than supplants, the common good?

That is the balance we must pursue—not privatization of the state, but principled partnership across sectors to build a just and thriving society.