[AnimalMuppet]

But the state also has no competitive pressure to be economically efficient, or to design units that aren't staggeringly ugly, or to not line the pockets of a buddy who's a contractor, or...

The general historical evidence is that government operations are not paragons of efficiency.

[kavabean]

The general story, told by who exactly? Oh right, the corporate press.

I live in the UK. For every careless ugly tower (there are some) there are solidly build, even solidly designed housing units that hold up over time. Many built in the 60's in a more politically active era won design awards. In general the initial construction quality of the public housing is much higher than private construction. From the thatcher era on maintanence was cut drastically which led to much of the decay.

The problem of insider graft and corruption is a real one. But it is fixable if citizens have real power and there is transparency and accountability instead of corporate funded elections which guarantee a disenfranchised population.

[nickpp]

The general story told by people who had no choice but live in these "wonderful" state-does-everything countries.

You live in UK? Come visit the Eastern Europe sometimes.