It is a bit tangential, but I appreciate your response. >You're assuming "markets" aren't at least as technocratic, open to manipulation, or just straightforwa

It is a bit tangential, but I appreciate your response. >You're assuming "markets" aren't at least as technocratic, open to manipulation, or just straightforwardly political. Where "experts" fail in the market, they are subject to competition. The conditions where they fail upwards are generally related to non-market political largess. >When the UK sold most of its critical infrastructure - using exactly the same arguments you're using... >privatized energy price gouging There's a large gulf between neoliberalism and laissez-faire. I do appreciate that the two are often conflated and that the distinction isn't always clear as they are often maligned together in popular discourse. >the reality wasn't a rational and perfectly organised free market utopia Utopia is a high bar to achieve. I'm just suggesting that having centrally planned interest rates is akin to price fixing. Overall a market rate of interest would be less bad IMHO. Rail infrastructure is a difficult issue, but the Japanese seem to have a successful private system. Maybe another commentor who is more familiar with Japan can elaborate on that.