[...] sometimes, "a competitive free market" and "a stable, regulated public utility" are both local maxima and may have very, very deep minima between them. Q

[...] sometimes, "a competitive free market" and "a stable, regulated public utility" are both local maxima and may have very, very deep minima between them. QFT. This is a very, very important point, and one that is usually lost in the vociferous arguing between those who prefer one pole or the other.