2 ms·

There are very few rail companies and the sector is considered by some to be highly monopolized. You can draw easy connections between this situation and all t

There are very few rail companies and the sector is considered by some to be highly monopolized. You can draw easy connections between this situation and all three of your points. If you let a company grow too large it's essentially impossible for the government to effectively regulate. If you let a company grow too large it's essentially impossible for profit news companies to effectively cover it. If you let a company grow too large it will eventually act in a manner so ridiculously irresponsible that you can literally observe the consequences from outer space. This is a failure with seemingly a very simple root cause.

hackernewds 4y ago
Why is it "essentially impossible"? It is entirely possible minus corruptible will
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  Perhaps because of regulatory capture. Though i would probably file that under corruption. It may be harder to be corrupt when there is more competition in a market because each participant is less able to afford paying for your integrity.
- thepasswordis 4y ago
  The justification the Biden administration gave when they broke the brewing strike was that supply chains are "essential infrastructure". The implication there is that the train people can do whatever they want, because their industry is so important.
jmyeet 4y ago
> If you let a company grow too large it's essentially impossible for the government to effectively regulate. Tell that to China [1]. Not to get sidetracked, this isn't a statement about the merits of what China did here, just the fact that they could do it and did it. You are alluding to corporate consolidationg being a problem, which it is, but that's only one facet. For example, the "money = speech" regime we've been in since Citizens United v. FEC is another big one. Another big one is Reagan era propaganda that many continue to treat as fact despite decades of evidence to the contrary (eg trickle down economics, deregulattion). The solution for the rail freight industry in particular is to nationalize the whole thing, which of course will never happen. [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56448688 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56448688

hackernewds 4y ago

Why is it "essentially impossible"? It is entirely possible minus corruptible will

paulryanrogers 4y ago
Perhaps because of regulatory capture. Though i would probably file that under corruption. It may be harder to be corrupt when there is more competition in a market because each participant is less able to afford paying for your integrity.
thepasswordis 4y ago
The justification the Biden administration gave when they broke the brewing strike was that supply chains are "essential infrastructure". The implication there is that the train people can do whatever they want, because their industry is so important.

jmyeet 4y ago

> If you let a company grow too large it's essentially impossible for the government to effectively regulate. Tell that to China [1]. Not to get sidetracked, this isn't a statement about the merits of what China did here, just the fact that they could do it and did it. You are alluding to corporate consolidationg being a problem, which it is, but that's only one facet. For example, the "money = speech" regime we've been in since Citizens United v. FEC is another big one. Another big one is Reagan era propaganda that many continue to treat as fact despite decades of evidence to the contrary (eg trickle down economics, deregulattion). The solution for the rail freight industry in particular is to nationalize the whole thing, which of course will never happen. [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56448688 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56448688