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What If Apple Ran The U.S. Government?

BOSTON (CBS) - Tech giant Apple currently has $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities fattening up its bottom line as of the end of last month. That's comfortably above the $73.8 billion cash balance held in the US Treasury right now.

If Apple's doing so well financially, some people are asking what would happen if Apple leaders ran the American government?

Well for starters, the country might stand a better shot of taking in more money than we spend.

WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong reports

As a nation, we'd be trendier. Apple's products are hip, innovative, cutting edge -- not adjectives typically used for the federal government.

Apple is known for on tremendous customer service, offered by knowledgeable and friendly employees. The same can't necessarily be said for government agencies like the IRS.

Apple prides itself on transparency - literal transparency in the case of its glass-walled stores. That's a quality in short supply in the nation's capital and among our leaders.

And it goes without saying that the Congress could use one of Apple's famous Genius Bars

Management consultant and business expert Peter Cohan says a Steve Jobs-ian dictatorship, where there was no room or need for compromise, might seem a little strange, but has the potential to be productive.

"You just can't seem to get anything done that you want to get done when you're president," Cohan argues. "You'd think it was the most powerful job in the world, but in fact, being CEO of Apple is a lot more powerful."

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