Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Markham
Who sets out the laws for the private companies to abide by. Who collects, builds and regulates the Roads, Schools, Fire Brigades, Hospital, etc. The private companies or Government?
You can have a Government that is answerable to the people every 4/5 years. Or a private company who s answerable to share holders. Take your choice.
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The free market would control them, and would be MUCH more responsive to people's actual needs than a Federal government that has, for example, created 80,000 new regulations on businesses from non-voter controlled agencies in the last 3 years. Stock holders control companies only to the extent that they want them to make a profit from their investments, (which made the company viable in the first place). If the free market doesn't like their products/services, then they will not do business with them. Government can use force, and does.... often. The US has never had free market capitalism, always crony capitalism. All of the Robber Barons of the 1890s were crony capitalists, propped up by government regulations and land grants that squeezed out their competitors. (Except for JJ Hill, whose railroad actually made a profit all the way up to today)
We are talking from opposite sides of the fence, I guess. This could go on for hours and hours, probably with no real resulting change of position. Have you ever read Frederic Bastiat, or Hayak, or Mises?
If those are too heavy to read, I would suggest John Stossel even.
If you are interested at all.
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