How the Government Might Make People Rich

If my Applied Capitalism System were adopted by the government, one of the things associated with it would be a national suggestion contest to allow people to make suggestions about how to save the government money or make it money. 

A bureau called the National Suggestion Contest Bureau would allow people to submit suggestions that could be considered by experts in various fields and government officials to see if they are worth implementing.  The bureau might employ a few thousand people and be given a $100 million budget.  But it could yield big returns. 

Let’s say I had the idea of allowing farmers to mow the median strips and sides of highways in the country so that they could feed the hay to their cattle.  As long as it could be done safely, the idea may be accepted. 

Letting farmers instead of road crews mow the highways might save states $20 million annually.  The person making the suggestion would receive between $200,000 and $2 million TAX FREE.  All winners would receive between 1 and 10% of the money saved.  Also, some winners would receive money for between one and ten years.  It depends on how much money will be saved.  The states would still save millions of dollars. 

Everyone who is a citizen would be eligible for the contest.  That means a child in elementary school would have as much a chance of winning an amount of money as a research and development firm would have.  There may be various categories to allow more people to have a chance of earning money. 

If a medical lab needs money to fund research in a drug, the suggestion might go to the NSCB and if a medical expert thinks the drug is worth researching, the lab could receive the money the expert determines would be 10% of the money saved by the government in reduced Medicare spending.  

John Kennedy said to ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.  If you could make money at the same time, so much the better.