US shutdown - safe mode

nope, capitalism is not about efficiency, it is about PROFIT.
To make more profit your industry have to be efficient, but for herself, not for the user.

When the government runs the program, there is no incentive to be efficient

but also there is no incentive to SPECULATION.

we have free healt care, but everyday medical, like aspirin and souch, aren't free.
Many times doctor are paid to sugget the use of some brand instad of other. That is illegal, obviusly, but around the sanity run a lot of money, and where there are a lot of money, there is always someone looking for a way "to get a bigger slice"

In the USA, we just spend the money whether we have it or not

you have A LOT of money, you just spend almst all playing the war. AND YOUR war is moving a lot of illegal immigrant to Italy, because they escape from war, so you are damaging those country and our contry (all the europe infact).

And please, don't say you are exporting democracy, a sniper or a drone (or a sniper-drone?) and a good plan should have suffice to eliminate "the bad guy" without involving the death of a lot of people