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Why sell off the train if it's earning money? Plenty of government run ventures don't.
by kochthesecond 10y ago
Why sell off the train if it's earning money? Plenty of government run ventures don't.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- uola 10y agoBecause they are jelous they can't make as bad a deal as Stockholm did with Arlanda. Express? More seriously, to finance populistic reforms to increase the power of their own party.
- cm3 10y agoWhat's the background on Arlanda Express. I've used it and wasn't too impressed but it wasn't late or super slow. Though I wouldn't consider it an express connection from the airport to central station compared to what's possible on rails.
- uola 10y agoBasically the government put up much of the financing but gave a private company monopoly on traffic until 2040. It was sold to venture capital which because of tax planning are paying little to no tax. The Wikipedia article is fairly complete. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlanda_Express https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlanda_Express
- cm3 10y agoAnd since 2014 it's owned not only by an Australian corp but Aussie and Chinese.
- tyfon 10y agoBecause the government should run the country and not small companies. If the company is exploiting strategic resources like oil it should be taxed, not owned as far as I am concerned.
- e12e 10y agoLiberal economic policy states that profit is the domain of the private enterprise, infrastructure that can't turn a profit is the domain of the state. I think it's a crazy idea, but that's the gist: if there's money to be made the government should leave that to private business and trust the invisible hand to make things right.