When “privatization” just means transferring the state’s coercion and use of taxes to private companies, it’s not a reduction in statism. Instead, it builds up perverse incentives and makes the state less transparent.  This can be seen quite clearly in the case of the for-profit prison industry.   It turns out that while for-profit prisons still receive our tax dollars and still lock peaceful people in cages, they’re not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.

And while we’re on the subject, profiting from caging humans isn’t just for the prison operators.   An excellent report released this week documents how Wells Fargo is getting in on the authoritarian action.