ABSTRACT
In some occupations the value of the marginal private net product of the resources employed is less than the value of the marginal social net product, with the result that too little is invested. In other industries the value of the marginal private net product is the larger, and too much is invested; in yet others the exercise of monopoly power contracts output, and investment falls much below what the public interest requires. But the comparative effect of public control and public operation upon the right distribution of national resources among different occupations is not the only thing readers have to consider in making the economists' choice between them. Between public operation and private operation, there is always and necessarily a fundamental difference of substance. It must be clearly understood that the issue raised concerns public operation, not public ownership.
