Absolutely Mind Boggling....
by Steve?Mastro
Example of how things gets screwed up by "authorities"...wow what a mess!!!!
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by Steve?Mastro
Example of how things gets screwed up by "authorities"...wow what a mess!!!!
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Add to the mix this charming fact - government will outlive all of us. There is no time preference for them in favor of turning these things over to private use now, when in 50, 100, 200, or more years, they can sell the whole mess off a quarter acre at a time for condos at a fabulous profit, or high-rate retail space...Not only do they have no incentive to profit now, they literally have a positive incentive to do NOTHING now to interfere with the property's imputed value later.
The underlying issue is even worse than that. It is a given that there will always be mismanagement in any organization that does not have profit as an incentive. But we cannot give enough attention to the fact that "public property" is not really public at all and that it will always be an instrument of wealth redistribution. We pay for property that someone else will benefit from. Even the best-managed "public goods" will always be a loser for the public at large.
It's even worse than you think. The Delaware River Port Authority, The Port of Philadelphia, and the Port of Camden are interlocking monopolies, controlling vast amounts of valuable property that long ago would have reverted to some valuable private use had they been privately-held to begin with. Making sure this does not happen are patronage-happy politicians and labor unions.
I have so many problems with this situation that I don't know where to start. The very existence of DRPA is a problem. A government monopoly masquerading as a private concern? C'mon, now! Making what they call "investments?" If they were truly private, how can they buy stuff with my money without even asking me? This is bs. The bridges should be auctioned off to real private owners.
PRIVATIZE IT. Sell all this stuff off, refund the money to the taxpayers, and be done with it.
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