"Epstein went on to add that the auction did what it was supposed to do: Find a meeting point between supply and demand for an increasingly sought-after physica

"Epstein went on to add that the auction did what it was supposed to do: Find a meeting point between supply and demand for an increasingly sought-after physical resource." All it did was assign a monopoly to a company that must increase the screwing the customers get, to make back the money they just gave the government. Thus in effect, customers money in the future is being handed to the government today. Whoever can screw the customers the hardest can pay the government the most for the privilege of doing so. Just like for profit prisons, this could work great, IF you included some metrics for the prisoners, or in this case, the customers. If the customers had some interest or say in this at all. Since the public/customers are the parties who matter in the sale of public properties, they should get more say than "well, just don't buy it." Not buying it is getting to cast a vote after the polls have closed, and it doesn't really get counted when it needs to.