Why Georgia wants to build private prisons

Jake Armstrong wrote 4 Dec 2008 in the Florida Times-Union that Private prisons trump Georgia's: DOC says incarceration is cheaper when done by private companies. Really? How much cheaper?

Private companies can build prisons faster and operate them for slightly less than the state, said Michael Nail, deputy director of the department's corrections division.

Slightly cheaper. Which we already learned is by having fewer guards per prisoner. Risking public safety for small dollar savings: does that sound like a good idea to you?.

How much cheaper?