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This is why the best approach would be having each state of government own the infrastructure and lease it out. Repairs can be either spread evenly or by amoun

This is why the best approach would be having each state of government own the infrastructure and lease it out. Repairs can be either spread evenly or by amount of infrastructure owned.

rayiner 8y ago
That’s not great either. It leads to a lowest common denominator approach, because government is over senisitive to affordability. That’s what happens with our water and sewage systems. Rates are about half of what they need to be in order to adequately maintain and upgrade that infrastructure. The result is kids being poisoned with lead and raw sewage being dumped into rivers. But nobody in an elected position wants to raise water rates on grandma with her fixed income.
- WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
  That's the thing, the government isn't charging people directly, they just manage the hardware, individual companies can charge their own rates on top of that hardware.
  - rayiner 8y ago
    But the government has to build the hardware. And that costs money, and a massive amount of evidence shows that the government will underinvest in that hardware. When I travel to Japan or Germany, it makes me cry to come back to American public roads and trains. But not privatized American broadband. We’re doing something wrong and that isn’t giving government insufficient involvement in the construction of infrastructure.
    - raxxorrax 8y ago
      In Germany we had a state owned train infrastructure for the longest time and the process of privatization isn't completed yet. The problem with a privatization is that unprofitable regional areas are not going to get any investments and will get basically excluded. While there were some improvements, customers in general do not get better condition today. I think overall using a train got more expensive. To a degree that you should think about using a plane. Infrastructure investments were low before and are low right now.

This is why the best approach would be having each state of government own the infrastructure and lease it out. Repairs can be either spread evenly or by amount of infrastructure owned.

rayiner 8y ago

That’s not great either. It leads to a lowest common denominator approach, because government is over senisitive to affordability. That’s what happens with our water and sewage systems. Rates are about half of what they need to be in order to adequately maintain and upgrade that infrastructure. The result is kids being poisoned with lead and raw sewage being dumped into rivers. But nobody in an elected position wants to raise water rates on grandma with her fixed income.

WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
That's the thing, the government isn't charging people directly, they just manage the hardware, individual companies can charge their own rates on top of that hardware.
- rayiner 8y ago
  But the government has to build the hardware. And that costs money, and a massive amount of evidence shows that the government will underinvest in that hardware. When I travel to Japan or Germany, it makes me cry to come back to American public roads and trains. But not privatized American broadband. We’re doing something wrong and that isn’t giving government insufficient involvement in the construction of infrastructure.
  - raxxorrax 8y ago
    In Germany we had a state owned train infrastructure for the longest time and the process of privatization isn't completed yet. The problem with a privatization is that unprofitable regional areas are not going to get any investments and will get basically excluded. While there were some improvements, customers in general do not get better condition today. I think overall using a train got more expensive. To a degree that you should think about using a plane. Infrastructure investments were low before and are low right now.