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Originally Posted by liberty1776
I disagree. The demand for water utlites is more elsastic than you think. If a water utility starts to charge monoply prices, consumers have a few options. First, they could have a well dug. Or, they could buy bottled water. Or they could have a tank of water that is filled every week or so.
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1.) Wells cannot be dug everywhere, even many places
2.) Bottled water doesn't run showers, toilets, or clean plates, further 1 dollar per liter is price gouging
Water
should be sold where supply equals demand when all externalities are adjusted for. Without government regulation this will never be the case. So the Water companies have to charge less money then a dollar a gallon, 75¢ per gallon is still exploitation.
And do you realize how incredibly inefficient shipping water by truck would be? Capitalism is the best system because it is the most efficient system. Laissez-Faire Capitalism is what happens when people completely forget about the idea of efficiency because its just too hard for them to understand.
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This is not true. There is a small cadre of economists that do believe that the market can solve everything. If you want, you can go to Ludwig von Mises Institute Home. My two favorite are Hans Hoppe and Walter Block. Both of these men are economists, both have tenured positions, and both are anarchists. These two men only scratch the surface.
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These are what
real economists refer to as "hacks" they're not very good economists, they don't actually have any proof, or econometrics, or "evidence" they just have poorly based theories and ideologies they defend tooth and nail.
They're no different then Marxists.
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Why must water be a monopoly? If water is charging high prices, competitiors will enter the market and fill the gap.
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Competitors
cannot enter the market. Thats why there are
monopolies. Monopolies aren't some myth that the hacks you've been reading make them out to be, they're real, and they happen on there own in a number of markets.