[Superman]

Good discussion so far. As always, Jeff the Liberal makes good sense. I wonder why "liber"tarians are considered to be virtually the opposite of "liber"als. Frankly, and speaking as one of the foremost liberal characters here, I'm pretty comfortable with some libertarian goals, and nobody, and I mean NOBODY here is more protective of liberty and freedom than I am.

I'd say socialism and capitalism are both inherently inefficient. Gubmint has no competition and that's pretty much used as the sole, single justification for why it should be avoided. But competition creates its own inefficiencies. First, you WILL need a gubmit regulator to watch over the behavior of the capitalists. Regardless of what industry you're talking about and if you start talking about privatization of utility services like roads and water and power and law enforcement, I'd vigorously argue that we will need to take regulation to a whole new level.

Capitalism requires profits, whereas gubmit does not.

While it is elegant and cute to pretend that capitalism always results in the lowest cost, we know for a fact this is not true. Capitalists LOVE to charge more money, and their agenda usually includes shaping the industry in just such a way that you pay more rather than less. Bundling, for example. Who feels like their telephone bills are lower now than before deregulation?