"I'm not going to debate the point that private firms are more efficient than government entities other than to state that there isn't anything inherent in either one that would preclude the other from being just as, if not more, efficient than the other"
-Smooth
Actually that's not true. If you had read the example I gave about vouchers leading to increased efficiency in education you may have seen the point more clearly. I'll try again.
Private companies constantly look for better, more efficient ways to produce goods and services because they compete with other private companies for market share. So self interest is the inherent, motivating factor that drives efficiency in free markets. The efficiencies created in free market are passed along to us, consumers, in the form of lower prices and a higher standard of living.
When Government gets involved in the distribution of resources inefficiencies arise due to lack of competition. Without competition, resources need not be used as efficiently as possible because there is no consquence to doing a poor job. If a private firm sucks at doing something, it can't compete and becomes insolvent. When the government sucks at doing something, tax payers suffer the inefficiencies in the form of wasted taxes and frustration.
Many people do not grasp economic theory though. Those people tend to focus less on how free markets lead to a higher overall standard of living in our country and more on things like "compassion" and "equity." How it's unfair or discompassionate to use our scarce resources wisely is beyond me. Then again, I'm not a liberal.
