Private companies managed to build railways just fine, until the govt in its infinite wisdom (with which I totally agree by the way, but most people in the pro-

Private companies managed to build railways just fine, until the govt in its infinite wisdom (with which I totally agree by the way, but most people in the pro-govt camp, who want more rail now, don't) decided to undercut them with a massive tax-funded highway system. And roads (or defense) are about as an extreme example as it gets due to the complexity of acquiring a very long, very narrow plot of land. So, it's possible a govt might be a bit better than market at providing roads, although I'm not 100% convinced. For most things, govt is just an inefficient, thieving monopoly.