Los libertarianos y la infraestructura: Jobs to be Done, not Done at All

Comentario en el Ludwig Von Mises Institute a partir de la caida por colapso estructural "y muerte anunciada" de un puente en USA

El tema es siempre atractivo pues discurre alrededor de los llamados monopolios naturales (¿Qué significa esta expresión?) que durante décadas fue el aurgumento dique para por ejemplo un mayor e innovador desarrollo de las telecomunicaciones ¿Cuántas otras industrias - mercados podrían hallarse aún hoy en situación similar? ¿Cuánta innovación podría estar represada y cuánta riqueza detenida?

El tono (como suele ser allí con éstos temas) es duro:

"The collapse of a bridge in rush-hour Minneapolis must be well known by nearly everyone in the United States by now. Whenever anyone dies, it's a tragedy; when many die, and expensive property (dozens of automobiles) is lost, that's obviously a tragedy. When all this loss of life and wealth happens because government bureaucrats did their jobs poorly or correctly, that's a preventable and costly tragedy — bought at the expense of many taxpayers who likely would have done other things with their money than pay those bureaucrats. Remember, those who might have done other things with their money include the dead victims..."

Y continúa (los argumentos atraen ciertamente)

"Imagine if a Wal-Mart fell in on customers, killing them. What would be the reaction? The CEOs of Wal-Mart would be strung up. Certainly there would not be any public moaning about how the roofs of our nation's shopping centers are in disrepair. The blame would be focused and intense, with no excuses tolerated... So why do we vaguely bemoan our "crumbling infrastructure?" My conspiracy-sniffing guess is that government and the mainstream media love to frighten the masses. Frightened masses seek information for their protection, and the mainstream media make money from advertisers when frightened masses seek information. Government loves a frightened populace because such a populace is willing to hand over more power and money to the government, further entrenching government employees in their overpaid, underworked jobs..."

Y esta es la tesis

"The correct message from the bridge collapse, which was allowed to happen with full knowledge of the bridge's structural problems, is that government cannot get the job done. The government lacks the incentive to fix problems. And even with the incentive, there is a core calculation problem associated with prioritizing the use of resources. This is where private markets excel. They are not perfect but resources are used efficiently to solve the most urgent demands as revealed in the system of profit and loss. The government lacks this mechanism, so everything becomes arbitrary at best and political at worst..."

¡Uyyyy! Les dejo el resto para el fin de semana. Siempre es retador para el razonar propio oir una voz tan discrepante ¿No creen?