4 ms·

the federal government can step in and nationalize the railroad at any point as it has done in the past (woodrow wilson era iirc)

• MSFT_Edging 4y ago
  Oh I'm aware, this is more a general idea for "too big to fail" companies in general. Our infrastructure is rotten and often privatized. No one has the funds and ability to hold companies like this accountable except for the federal government. Look at Steven Donzinger. He reported on toxic spills by Chevron in Nicaragua that poisoned indigenous water supplies. Chevron hired a private prosecutor and found a judge in their favor to force him into house arrest(for over a year) for not supplying a document. Large corporations have the cards stacked in their favor.
  • mrguyorama 4y ago
    It's almost like we shouldn't allow companies to grow so large, and that a company being larger than most countries doesn't provide any benefit to the consumer.
• ccooffee 4y ago
  "Can" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I do not find it a credible threat, and doubt any of these companies do either. Perhaps one could argue that the 2008-2009 TARP handling of some banks or automobile manufacturers was a "light nationalization", as the US took control of _some_ stock of the affected companies. (This stock was later sold off for a profit.) But other than that, and _maybe_ the creation of the TSA in 2001, there isn't a nationalization in my living memory. The nationalization of railroads under Wilson lasted from December 1917 to March 1920. During this time, operation (including expansion and maintenance) of all railroads was organized by the federal government. When the nationalization was repealed in 1920, the US paid rail companies for lost profits.