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Every time I hear someone argue for the efficiencies of privatization, I think of my water utility emulating mobile carriers and billing me for "Anytime gallons

by mundo 10y ago

Every time I hear someone argue for the efficiencies of privatization, I think of my water utility emulating mobile carriers and billing me for "Anytime gallons" and "Nighttime gallons" and "Weekend gallons".

twoodfin 10y ago
Instead, if you're in a drought-prone area, you get water bans.
- omginternets 10y ago
  ... which is perfectly reasonable. What's your point?
  - elipsey 10y ago
    I think his point is that price economics would allow you to at least have _some_ water if you wanted it bad enough to pay more. EDIT: Perhaps more importantly, dynamic priceing could be more efficient than a regime in which you can use huge amounts of water at a low fixed cost, and then suddenly none when it runs out.
    - omginternets 10y ago
      >I think his point is that price economics would allow you to at least have _some_ water if you wanted it bad enough to pay more Right, and the point of a water ration is to ensure that everybody limits their water use to some prescribed amount. What you and the OP are describing is arguably a bug, not a feature. The point of contention here is not of price economics per se, but of politics. At issue is whether or not one should be able to circumvent a ration by virtue of his monetary resources. Some people (including myself) find this notion distasteful.
  - splintercell 10y ago
    > ... which is perfectly reasonable. What's your point? It shouldn't be this way. It serves no purpose. You first claim that everybody has access to resource X at a reasonable price (because we don't want to discriminate against poor people), then when resource X starts to run out, they enforce bans instead of charging more to people willing to pay a premium (and getting the resource first) and then using it to expand production and access to everyone. This story plays out everywhere, whether in Soviet Russia or in California or in NHS.
dpc_pw 10y ago
This is quite popular in Poland for electricity. It makes a lot of economic sense. Same with Internet. Back in the days I had a plan like that, where Internet would be faster and wouldn't count towards your quota if used in the night. All the heavy downloads would be scheduled to run overnight
najati83 10y ago
This happens in Europe, at least with electricity, you can choose a tariff that is cheaper during the night and more expensive during daytime.

by mundo 10y ago

twoodfin 10y ago

Instead, if you're in a drought-prone area, you get water bans.

omginternets 10y ago
... which is perfectly reasonable. What's your point?
- elipsey 10y ago
  I think his point is that price economics would allow you to at least have _some_ water if you wanted it bad enough to pay more. EDIT: Perhaps more importantly, dynamic priceing could be more efficient than a regime in which you can use huge amounts of water at a low fixed cost, and then suddenly none when it runs out.
  - omginternets 10y ago
    >I think his point is that price economics would allow you to at least have _some_ water if you wanted it bad enough to pay more Right, and the point of a water ration is to ensure that everybody limits their water use to some prescribed amount. What you and the OP are describing is arguably a bug, not a feature. The point of contention here is not of price economics per se, but of politics. At issue is whether or not one should be able to circumvent a ration by virtue of his monetary resources. Some people (including myself) find this notion distasteful.
- splintercell 10y ago
  > ... which is perfectly reasonable. What's your point? It shouldn't be this way. It serves no purpose. You first claim that everybody has access to resource X at a reasonable price (because we don't want to discriminate against poor people), then when resource X starts to run out, they enforce bans instead of charging more to people willing to pay a premium (and getting the resource first) and then using it to expand production and access to everyone. This story plays out everywhere, whether in Soviet Russia or in California or in NHS.

dpc_pw 10y ago

This is quite popular in Poland for electricity. It makes a lot of economic sense. Same with Internet. Back in the days I had a plan like that, where Internet would be faster and wouldn't count towards your quota if used in the night. All the heavy downloads would be scheduled to run overnight

najati83 10y ago

This happens in Europe, at least with electricity, you can choose a tariff that is cheaper during the night and more expensive during daytime.