-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Tuesday 02 May 2006 22:40, Paul Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> was heard to say: > Portland, Oregon is a great argument against privatization of > critical infrastructure. For the longest time, it was the poster > child of privatization, with Portland General Electric as the > local, private, power utility and residential power monopoly...
Excuse me, but how can "privatization" and "monopoly" be used to refer to the same action? A legally mandated monopoly is hardly "privatization", it remains a legal arm of the government. As much as I hate to nit-pick, because it's obvious your heart is in the right place, Mr. Johnson, there is a very serious disconnect between the term "privatization" (or deregulation) and the reality of continued government intervention. Let's talk about actual deregulation and privatization, like in late 1992 when the NSF released their control of the routing tables and removed the prohibition against "commercial" use of this "internet" thing. Sure, it was hard for a while for each tier-1 ISP to get routers in place that could deal with the full routing table. But the explosion of use, availability, content and innovation was wonderful to behold! No surprise to me, being a free-market advocate, to see what happens when the regulatory cork is truly pulled from the bottle. I suggest that this same explosive expansion of utility, innovation and variety will happen in any field where government really does get out of the way. Would it be "easy"? Can I guarantee that no one, anywhere, would have difficulty as the competitive modes were worked out all over again? No. Neither can I say that life is safe at all, there is always risk. But as anyone who sells insurance can tell you, where there is risk there is profit! And profit is a very powerful motivator. It may take a day, it may take a year, but someone will come up with a way to undercut the local "physical" monopoly and provide better service *IF* they are legally allowed to do so. The risk of that competition will lower prices or improve service (or both) in the entrenched provider as well, if for no other reason than to try to keep the competition at bay for a little while longer. Curt- - -- September 11th, 2001 The proudest day for gun control and central planning advocates in American history -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (GNU/Linux) iQEVAwUBRFgiVi9Y35yItIgBAQKhpQf+NuQhynmYwhEhPlv5yl7WdDOLSxrUqygG uDJr330XmEEBfXyBFY5cbX6QbUFL4campON3pVfeoYXhjX54OsjA0faEsHmWWyoG xSkAHq9gn/3jnda1i4+rLmo/JRKCQLdvQ8ziz2Iezap33J5tFmL1m91qTKUzOqEQ swcR0X6D4IQc6Ho5ImAoo9PLPLhbWI3tv5uhH92y9/mViVG246oawS3iWz5lK2N7 bjD2zzpL/nDQ+3mPEx5W/rIdOrZfIzWHh1tYAmN99eYZF0Ffd4WuOJEDUeYeusG2 UMRXzo2V/oyD4DoKS3w1spseCJFwuS8TqZ2LVwR7Fb/cHTWgKdKKlA== =VDi3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
