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Recent Research and Commentary

Federal Privatization Update

Annual Privatization Report examines privatization and public-private partnership trends at the federal level

April 15, 2013

Adam Summers, Anthony Randazzo, Steven Titch, Victor Nava

The federal section of Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2013 provides an overview of the latest on federal government privatization and public-private partnerships. Topics include:

A. BCFC Outlines $795 Billion in Federal Budget Savings

B. Congress Takes on Postal Service Reform—Again

C. Space Privatization Update

D. ANALYSIS: Google, Facebook, Antitrust and the “Public Good”

E. ANALYSIS: Private Sector is Best-Positioned to Lead Cybersecurity Policy

F. ANALYSIS: Privatization of Financial Regulation is Not Impossible

» Return to Annual Privatization Report 2013 homepage

Space Privatization Update

Subsection of Annual Privatization Report 2013: Federal Government Privatization

April 15, 2013

Adam Summers

This subsection of Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2013: Federal Government Privatization details miscellaneous news and notes from the privatization of federal government services.

The Top Transportation Issues to Watch in 2013

January 8, 2013, 10:57am

Baruch Feigenbaum

2013 will be another busy year in transportation. Ports/waterways need a new policy direction; Amtrak needs to be reauthorized; and work will begin on a new surface transportation bill, which expires at the end of 2014.

Privatization, Outsourcing and Insourcing Trends in Federal Government

Federal Government Privatization Chapter of Annual Privatization Report 2011

May 1, 2012

Adam Summers, Anthony Randazzo

This section of Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2011 provides an overview of the latest federal insourcing, housing finance, private spaceflight and other news on privatization and public-private partnerships in the federal government. Topics include:

• The ongoing dispute over what constitutes “inherently governmental” functions continued in 2011, and new Obama administration regulations could undermine federal outsourcing policy standards dating back to 1955.
• Regulators implementing the Dodd-Frank Act are creating significant risk for both mortgage investors and securitizers and appear likely to undercut the private mortgage industry while benefitting government mortgage providers. 
• In 2011, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) combined to purchase or guarantee 95 percent of all new mortgages in America with some mortgages worth as much as $729,750. Every one of these mortgages is backed by taxpayer money.
• Federal agencies, under the encouragement of President Obama, are expected to generate nearly $13 billion in cost savings from asset divestiture, $9.8 billion of which comes form the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) efforts.
• The federal government owns approximately 1.2 million properties that cost $20 billion a year to maintain. Recent Congressional efforts to pass a Civil Property Realignment Act could save as much as $15 billion, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

New at Reason: Review of Federal Privatization Issues in 2011 and Today

April 23, 2012, 11:59pm

Leonard Gilroy, Harris Kenny

The rollout of Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2011 begins with the release of the Federal Government Privatization section, authored by Reason’s Adam Summers and Anthony Randazzo.

Branson Christens First-Ever Commercial Spaceport in New Mexico

October 18, 2011, 4:57pm

Harris Kenny

This week Virgin Group media mogul Sir Richard Branson christened the first-ever commercial spaceport in Sierra County, New Mexico. The 110,000-square-foot spaceport cost over $200 million to build (thanks in part to taxpayer-financed support.)

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