After reading more if an infrastructure project is worth doing, the private sector will do it nonsense at Betsy’s Page, I propose a public works history challenge.
Name all significant infrastructure built in the U.S. entirely by the private sector. For that matter, name all significant infrastructure in the world built entirely by the private sector, at least in the past couple of centuries. By “significant” I mean something that is open for use by public and commercial traffic, not just for the use of a particular company or inclusive community.
I believe the original energy grid was built by the utility companies who had a monopoly in a given area, and one reason it isn’t being maintained now is that without monopolies, power companies have less incentive to spend the money. Likewise some part of the railroad system was built without public funds. Likewise, in early America I believe some private companies built toll roads (and collected the tolls), but that hasn’t happened in awhile, I don’t think.
Seriously, where is all this private sector infrastructure building going on in the real world?
Well, I think in colonial Pennsylvania the private sector built a toll road made of logs..
Ok, maybe not the best example.. What about Vanderbilt Motor Parway? If I remember correctly it was the first concrete road in America. I used to drive Motor parkway years ago as part of my work trek… An enjoyable ride especially in the summer months and when you’ve got a good buzz on.
Maybe, but the railroads out here (west) all got huge subsidies, sometimes as cash per mile and sometimes as land along the route. If you look at public-land maps of California (e.g.), you’ll see checkerboard patterns along the railroad corridors, where the federal government gave the railroad companies every other square mile. (To this day, Southern Pacific is one of the biggest landowners in the state.)
The Great Northern is often held up as an example of a RR built w/o public funds.
The “analysis” at Betsey’s Page is just simply stoopid.
Well, for one thing, the more you look at history, the harder it is to draw a clear line between public and private. Corporations, for instance, are themselves government creations. It’s kind of hard to see that today, when corporations tend to be viewed as the very antithesis of government, but you just have to keep in mind that the fundamental principle that allows corporations to function is limited liability. And you don’t have limited liability without laws guaranteeing it and courts to enforce those laws.
Yes, in the colonial period toll roads were private roads. Hamilton was in favor of the government taking over their operation and construction so that a traveling salesman or other user of the roads would know that a roadway and toll was consistent from place to place. Hamilton wanted to encourage people to start businesses and to travel for them.
The power grid was built by individual companies to deliver their power to their customers. The current problem came about because as each state deregulated the power companies, they didn’t consider who would keep up the distribution systems. In the NYC area it was assumed that Con Edison would and the PSC assigned some responsibilities for it and ordered that other companies would pay Con Ed some fees. So it’s a mess.
The “Private Sector” is yet another phony religion. The only thing the private sector has on the public sector is utter lack of accountability and transparency. In Gov’t. there’s always an outside chance you’ll be tossed out of office. In the private sector, the worst fate is taking the Golden Parachute at one company and getting bumped up to run another: Yahoo, or HP, or Goldman Sacks.
Keep in mind that Colonial-era public works, esp. canals, often were costructed only because a particular private company was given a monopoly to build and run it by the govt. Had competition been allowed, the potential tolls likely would have been bid down to the point where building the infrastructure would not have been financially viable for any private company.
Most public infrastructure paid for by the government usually had a national defense purpose; e.g., the U.S. Highway system was bulit for the purpose of moving tanks and other war needs across the country quickly. Even the internet began with national defense purposes in mind.
In the 18th and early 19th century, there were a lot of privately built roads and canals, but they all went broke. Basically, there is no money in transportation infrastructure, so at some point the government has to pump in subsidies or build and operate the thing itself.
Right you are, Bonnie;
The Interstate System is known as “Defense Critical”.
Hmmm… Interesting question.
But outside of what was mentioned, I can’t think of a thing.
But it seems like when government does give infrastructure projects to private companies, they give monopoly rights to those industries, and that never works out well for the consumer/voter – at least, again, never that I can think of.
I just thought of something – but it’s related to trains. The NY City Subway and Elevated system was largely, if I remember right, were built by private companies.
Gotta love teh google/bing!
Yup, the IRT stood for Interborough Rapid Transport,.
The Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT, formerly the Brooklyn Rapid Transit, BRT).
And curiously, “The Independent Subway (IND) was formed by the City in the 1920s as an “independent” system that was not connected to the IRT or BMT lines.”
The city took over the system in the 40’s.
For a short intro – http://www.nycsubway.org/faq/briefhist.html
And actually, whether it’s privately built, or municipally, after 75 years, the people on the East Side of NYC have been waiting for a 2nd Avenue line to be built longer than Vladimir and Estragon have been waiting for Godot.
And city or private,
I guess that’s why and how come some of the “connections” make no sense. One really ought to be able to take a train directly from Grand Central to Rockefeller Station, IMO, instead of having to take the Times Square shuttle to pick up a downtown 7th Avenue train. One really ought to be able to take a train directly from Grand Central to LaGuardia, for that matter, although I guess they hadn’t built LaGuardia when the subway tracks were laid.
And what does it say about ourselves that we’re so dependent on 19th-century infrastructure and can’t seem to get our act together to make any more? Like the missing 2nd Avenue train has been talked about forever.
For all it’s faults, I still, and always will, love the NY Subway system.
I know sometimes that it’s infuriating that it sometimes still has that old New England Yankee problem of, “You can’ get theyah from heeyah.”
And I know very well that schlep from the East until you hit the 4,5,6 lines. I lived in Peter Cooper Village for a little over a year, and it was a hike to get to the subway – either 23 blocks South, or 4 or 5 avenues West. But, because of all the walking I did no matter which borough I lived (and Bronx is the only one I didn’t live in), I was in really, really good shape – but I wonder how much of a toll that took on me, now that I can’t walk farther than a few few hundred yards without a cane?
Take almost any map of the subway system, and it looks like a living, breathing organism. Take this one:
http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/uploaded_images/new-york-city-subway-map-779603.GIF
There was an earlier one that I thought was so cool, I used to keep a map framed as a poster in my NYC apartments.