[quote]Makavali wrote:
LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Privatizing transportation requires a viable customer base. If rails fail in the private sector then they have no place in the public sector – this is the efficiency of a market correction. I suspect that publicly funded roads were too much competition for privately owned rails. If roads were privatized I suspect that the results would have been different as both means would have competed to bring consumers into the market.
I disagree. Privatization works for everything.
People stopped using our public transport the moment it became private. Before that you wouldn’t give a second thought to hopping in the bus. Because the new privately owned companies have the monopoly, it’s cheaper to run your own car and get from A to B. Parking costs included.
Another example is our government selling the telecommunications network. We pay outrageous prices for the slowest internet. Only in the last 2 years has over 512kbps become a mainstream speed. The highest available on what was previously a government owned corporation is 10mbps with 512kbps upstream. Doesn’t even compare to what other countries get.[/quote]
The distinction that needs to be cleared up here is that your government transferred ownership from one monopoly (itself) to another. To me there is no difference in a government monopoly or a corporate monopoly. Even in the US there is virtual monopoly on ISPs. One either has cheap, slow tele-com service or expensive, fast cable service.