Quote:
Originally posted by seretogis
A government agency is held much less accountable by the people, as there really is very little way for them to exercise power over it. If AT&T suddenly is revealed to be a corrupt bunch of hooligans, consumers can switch their local phone service to another provider. Hopefully, eventually, there will be several options for each consumer for any utility.
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I believe in the Libertarian idea of choice when it comes to, say, software, or groceries, or gas stations. But it seems to me that the idea of "consumer choice" on utilities is largely a farce. You're only going to have one water pipe, one gas pipe, one electricity line into your house, so the "choice" is really just rich people pushing monopoly money around. I have yet to see a successful consumer choice system.
In fact, LA was well served in the CA power crisis by their independent power system, while San Diego, an early adopter of power choice, got screwed.
It seems like perhaps there is a compromise. The government could operate and maintain the pipes, electric lines, and such and perhaps there could be limited competition for who gets to supply to those lines.