In an excerpt from her excellent op-ed in the Sept 1 Globe Renee Loth reported

If public employment had held steady during the recovery period, according to some estimates, today’s unemployment rate would be 7.8 percent instead of the current 8.3.

Why is a tennis pro at a private club any more useful to the economy than an elementary school gym teacher?

But public-sector workers can’t get any respect. Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard (and a potential choice for treasury secretary should Mitt Romney win the presidential election) disparaged public jobs at a convention event in Tampa this week. “I think sometimes liberals actually believe that public-sector jobs are the same as private-sector jobs. They are not,” she said.

And why not do you think?