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Infrastructure is very complicated. Typically if you have a guy build a road and you let that guy control the pricing, he charges a lot because he has a monopo

by tks2103 13y ago

Infrastructure is very complicated. Typically if you have a guy build a road and you let that guy control the pricing, he charges a lot because he has a monopoly. That transfers wealth to the road builder at the expense of all the would-be businessmen who would build institutions that use the road. So societies use governments to control a relationship between the manager of the road and the people that use the road. The price to use the road dips because of the enhanced bargaining power of the people that use the road through the institution of government. Typically governments even subsidize the unit cost of using the road by paying the road manager directly up front, because the corresponding increase in business is worth it across a society. I think that if you have a system that focuses on individuals and their relationships to roads and road builders without regulation by a large third party that represents all members of the society, you'll get a situation where the road builder uses the monopoly power to price road usage so highly that business investment is hampered. Usually people use government institutions to manage this sort of thing, and usually it works pretty good. I think this is pretty basic stuff, no?

snitko 13y ago
So why do you believe a company which manages the road is a monopolist? Where did you get this? Why is it impossible to build another road? Or go by train? Or by air? By no means road companies would be monopolies. A government, on the other hand, is a monopoly. Furthermore, if for some reason I dislike the quality of the services that are provided or I dislike the way they are provided (for example, I ride a motorcycle and government requires me to wear a helmet, even though it is only my life I risk by not wearing it) then I still have to pay. If I don't pay, I get fined and may go to jail. It's not just a monopoly, it's extortion. Imagine your ISP knocks on your door and says: "Hello sir. You are going to pay us this amount a month, we will provide you with internet access. The quality is going to be completely up to us, you can't unsubscribe and if you stop paying, you'll be fined and may go to jail. Oh, and there are practically no competitors, only very expensive ones. And if you use them, you would still have to pay us." How would you like that? Why roads are different? Nearly everyone uses Internet these days, just like they use roads. Finally, you made this point "Typically governments even subsidize the unit cost of using the road". Actually, taxpayers subsidize it, not government. Government doesn't have any money.

by tks2103 13y ago

snitko 13y ago

So why do you believe a company which manages the road is a monopolist? Where did you get this? Why is it impossible to build another road? Or go by train? Or by air? By no means road companies would be monopolies. A government, on the other hand, is a monopoly. Furthermore, if for some reason I dislike the quality of the services that are provided or I dislike the way they are provided (for example, I ride a motorcycle and government requires me to wear a helmet, even though it is only my life I risk by not wearing it) then I still have to pay. If I don't pay, I get fined and may go to jail. It's not just a monopoly, it's extortion. Imagine your ISP knocks on your door and says: "Hello sir. You are going to pay us this amount a month, we will provide you with internet access. The quality is going to be completely up to us, you can't unsubscribe and if you stop paying, you'll be fined and may go to jail. Oh, and there are practically no competitors, only very expensive ones. And if you use them, you would still have to pay us." How would you like that? Why roads are different? Nearly everyone uses Internet these days, just like they use roads. Finally, you made this point "Typically governments even subsidize the unit cost of using the road". Actually, taxpayers subsidize it, not government. Government doesn't have any money.