Crumbling infrastructure recalls novel 'Atlas Shrugged' - Aug. 14, 2007

Crumbling infrastructure recalls novel 'Atlas Shrugged' - Aug. 14, 2007

"Today's Randians, of course, have an answer to our woes: Privatize everything. No way a bridge falls if a profit-seeking company, properly incentivized, had been charged with maintaining it, goes the argument. That, however, is dangerous thinking. There are certain things the market just can't be trusted to handle. Imagine that bridge-maintenance company having to cut expenses this quarter by delaying work for just a few days. Imagine how the CEO might feel if the stock would drop if he couldn't make the quarter."

If the CEO has a bridge crash that his company is responsible for then there likely will not be a next quarter or at least not one with that lucrative contract in Accounts Receivable. At least the private company has some incentive beyond mere elections to not fail. This is not the case with what our government has become.


"The markets don't always work for the public good. Just ask CEOs of mortgage lenders that pushed no-documentation loans, which anyone with common sense knew was just asking for trouble. The solution isn't to abolish government. It's to make government work better."

Interesting. Before those loans could be made very questionable central banking practices, demanded by the government and having nothing to do with free markets, set up the real-estate balloon and made it possible for such shady lenders and foolish borrowers to believe that they would not be the ones holding the bag when the bubble burst. But instead of pointing this out the author acts as if it was all the fault of private markets to make his point.


"We'll get through this. We always do. As a country we'll become outraged at our crumbling infrastructure and demand that our leaders fix it. By punishing their stock prices - what they really care about - lenders and home builders who duped people into spending beyond their means will get their comeuppance. And then the stocks markets and the economy will be just fine. Plutocrats will realize that their limos travel over bridges and that their employees take the subway."

Countries and people don't always get through to better times as history shows. Demand that "our leaders" fix it? Our leaders are fallible human beings in a very corrupt governmental structure. "Our leaders" have got us into the current mess. More precisely our believe in and abrogation of responsibilities and rights to "leaders" got us int this mess. Lets be honest about where the problem really lies at least.