Privatizing infrastructure?

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Should roads, bridges, airports, tunnels etc be sold to private companies to be run as businesses?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_19/b4033001.htm

71T Targa · 04-30-2007, 12:49 PM

Sure, that sounds like a great idea. Except our taxes won't go down, and we'll have the added expense of a toll road.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

This is a "common good" thing that should be the purvey of government. If all of the infrastructure is privatized, what will the gov't be left to do? Re-distribute wealth...more?

Superman · 04-30-2007, 02:36 PM

Roads and electric power are the most delicious achievable targets right now. Private business wants desperately to get their hands on those public assets. Of course. Duh.

What would be even better is water supply. If oxygen had to be delivered to people as a service that would be the PERFECT industry to privatize but sadly, oxygen is in the atmosphere and readily available to everyone for free.

Still, that leaves roads, electric power and water supply.

Salt would be a good one, but it would be difficult to create a monopoly on that. So....back to roads, electric power and water. The most tantalizing industries for private business.

Of course, there are folks who think private business will not gouge the public. Yeah, right. That same group also believes that private industry can turn the mandatory 16% profit while also reducing costs. Riiiiigggghhhht......

legion · 04-30-2007, 02:48 PM

Supe, you seem to think of all businesses as headed by James Bond villains. I think you should launch a personal protest and give up all goods and services sold by corporations until they change their evil ways...or you could try to sneak into the corporate headquarters and toss the CEO into the tank of sharks with laser beams on their frickin' heads...your choice.

Superman · 04-30-2007, 02:57 PM

I've got a better idea. Let's combine the following corporations into a single unit that will own and operate your municipal water, electricity and road systems:

Halliburton
Exxon
Wal-Mart
Enron

Superman · 04-30-2007, 02:58 PM

Or.......let's pretend as though those corporations are somehow different from the others.

gprsh924 · 04-30-2007, 02:59 PM

I am fairly conservative especially fiscally, but privatizing roads really could have some bad consequences. I live in Illinois and the bulk of highway driving that I do is already on toll roads. At least right now though, we have the guise of recourse against the government (in forms of elections and such) if they were to skyrocket tolls or something else of that nature. If it was a privately owned company that controlled the roads, what could we do except not drive on them, sometimes an impossibility.

Superman · 04-30-2007, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Superman
Or.......let's pretend as though those corporations are somehow different from the others.

Edit: Yeah. Now that I've thought about it some more, yeah. A corporation that holds a monopoly on things we cannot avoid......surely would not take advantage of that situation by charging the highest possible rates. That wouldn't be "good." Sure, it makes the most profits, but corporations wouldn't do that. Instead, they'd do the "right" thing.

gprsh924 · 04-30-2007, 03:05 PM

Superman i basically agree with you on this subject, yet the way you go about your argument is the most obnoxious thing possible. I agree with you yet I am sick of your opinion. Why not just present a nice clear argument instead of coming across like an asshat

john70t · 04-30-2007, 03:15 PM

Hey, some Central and South American countries are semi-privatized:
You simply drive up to the road block, and give $20 to the nice soldiers pointing machine guns at you. This doesn't apply, of course, to the black tinted Expeditions with stickers(wink).

john70t · 04-30-2007, 03:22 PM

I sure wish I held the patent rights to ABS/traction control that the Gov. will soon be mandating on all new cars. Suuure would be sweet!
Also, auto collision insurance is mandatory, but health insurance is not? Kinda hard to claim "the system" doesn't have a slant to it.

Superman · 04-30-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gprsh924
Superman i basically agree with you on this subject, yet the way you go about your argument is the most obnoxious thing possible. I agree with you yet I am sick of your opinion. Why not just present a nice clear argument instead of coming across like an asshat

My apologies. There is a poster here that I have viciously criticized for this same obnoxious presentation. Sarcasm. That was a long time ago, but your point is well taken.

gprsh924 · 04-30-2007, 03:51 PM

Sorry for being so harsh but it was just frustrating...no worries