There’s private sector outsourcing, government outsourcing, private sector offshore outsourcing, and government offshore outsourcing. I have an oped on the last issue in today’s OC Register: What if California could administer state services for free? Imagine the taxpayer refunds. Imagine what entrepreneurs would do with all that extra cash in hand. Wouldn’t we welcome such a proposal as one of the greatest efficiency innovations ever? Unfortunately, lawmakers would likely mislabel the proposal a threat to state jobs and promptly squash it. The Democrat-controlled Senate just passed a bill that would forbid California from sending government work to foreign lands. Offshore outsourcing often saves governments money, but many in our Legislature – even in the face of record deficits – see no need to slim our beefy government. So firm is their resistance to reform that Senate Democrats passed the outsourcing ban just as a study – commissioned by their Democratic Assembly colleagues – found that outsourcing would likely be good for job creation. The study, by the Public Policy Institute of California, suggests that outsourcing’s productivity gains could increase living standards at home. Here’s the whole thing.