Privatization and Public Infrastructure

From an unlikely, conservative source, Forbes.com has a very interesting piece by Nicole Gelinas about the need of capitalist societies for publicly funded infrastructure, and how the U.S. is falling down on this duty in the face of calls for privatization.

Conservatives think the private sector will mend the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. They’re wrong.

I am a conservative who thinks that conservatives and liberals alike have blown it on one of the nation’s most important issues: infrastructure spending. While politicians find new ways to spend money on Medicare even in the face of a looming entitlement crisis, our nation’s roads, bridges, airports and dams are crumbling. Roads and bridges may be boring, unsexy. But they are the backbone of tomorrow’s capitalist economy. We ignore them at our peril.

Some conservatives may reason that if there were really a problem, the private sector would step in and fix things in pursuit of profit. Isn’t that how it works in a capitalist society? Indeed, the private sector could play a bigger role. But it can’t replace rational public planning and investment.

A refreshing, thought-provoking read. We would be fortunate indeed if such pragmatism were to return to American civics.