danw@oliven.UUCP (danw) (12/01/84)
[] >There always seems to be a lot of talk about public and >private roads when the topic turns to Libertarians. I >hope you all remember that this country once had quite a >system of private roads. The major reason for the building of >public roads was that the cost of using private roads had >become too prohibitive. Farmers were forced to pay fees to >use the roads and it became a big problem just to travel >a short distance. Is this what the Libertarians want to >go back to? >T. C. Wheeler Is there anyone out there who can find historical references to substantiate this ? There are plenty of historical accounts of governments making ,trade ,travel and commerce impossible, as a result of their rapacious nature. I have yet to hear of a monopoly that existed ,permanently ,in a free and unregulated market. The unescapable law remains: excessive profits breed rueness competition. What seems more likely ,is that the government used Wheeler's idea ,as an excuse ,to do what they wanted to do all along - nationalize the roads. danw
gjk@talcott.UUCP (Greg J Kuperberg) (12/02/84)
> I have yet to hear of a monopoly that existed ,permanently ,in > a free and unregulated market. ... > danw Before the anti-trust laws, there were quite a few monopolies, and they were relatively stable. The fortunes that were concentrated in the hands of one person, or two or three brothers, still exist as family fortunes. Example: Standard Oil. In many markets, the competitors did the moral equivalent: price fixing. Examples: Du Pont and its competition, Edison Electric (Now G.E.) and Westinghouse. --- Greg Kuperberg harvard!talcott!gjk "Madam, there is only one important question facing us, and that is the question whether the white race will survive." -Leonid Breshnev, speaking to Margaret Thatcher.