Such a competitive, privatized prison system—probably better described as a work-camp system—would offer decided advantages over present state-monopoly penal systems:

• Private institutions would be naturally oriented toward recovering values, that is, toward the moral goal of restitution. In contrast, current penal systems are naturally oriented more toward altruistic purposes, which may take the form either of dehumanizing punishments or of "country club" prisons.

• Competitive, privatized work camps would have an economic incentive to operate as efficiently and inexpensively as possible.

• In particular, competitive enterprises could extract repayment from white-collar criminals efficiently and vigorously. In contrast, under the present system, wealthy or high-income offenders, such as those convicted in the Savings-and-Loan scandal of the 1980s, may repay little or none of their debts while continuing to prosper.     

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