Westley's Law

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Westley's Law is a law of Economics and Political Science by Jacksonville State University economist Christopher Westley that says that the Public Sector is always held to lower standards than the Private Sector, and that this explains the growth of government.^[1] An example of this law would be the differences in accounting standards held for public corporations compared to government bureaus. It was the enforcement of these standards that shut down the Enron Corporation in 2002. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense cannot account for billions of dollars, and there is very little public outcry, compared to that which was directed at Enron.^[2]

Other examples include the different standards held for private and public education, postal services, and airline and highway safety, among others. Westley's Law suggests that (a) government growth is constrained when it is held to standards similar to those that exist in the marketplace, and (b) there is an inverse relationship between the expectations held for government programs and government funding.