Worth Reading

I may not have had much time lately to put down some original thoughts, but luckily others have.

WWVB recently posted this.

And many thanks to Praxis Foundation who posted the link to this article.  My favorite quotes are [emphasis is mine]:

Yet it isn’t true, as a general rule, that privatization shrinks the public sector. When investor demand for high returns is combined with the natural monopolies of public assets, what often results instead is citizens finding themselves saddled with high fees and poor service.

Even more perniciously, selling infrastructure such as toll roads puts the coercive power of the state in the hands of private actors. We have great public assets built by prior generations. We should and could be building a better country for our children, rather than liquidating what we have.

That period was unique in its political alliance between labor unions and capital-intensive industries that provided a continuously rising standard of living for most Americans. American firms had no rivals internationally, so free trade meant higher sales and profits for all.

Privatization doesn’t actually make something private; it simply divides risks between public and private entities.

Ultimately, of course, we will have no choice but to rebuild our infrastructure or risk social collapse. It’s not just the disintegrating bridges and extreme weather. Recent global supply chain disruptions suggest that certain parts of corporate America may turn toward a pro-infrastructure posture out of self-interest.

Meanwhile, the ideological fight is not over whether to spend more on infrastructure. It’s whether we should privatize what’s left.

Like I said, in my opinion, worth reading.