Comments Paul:
maybe the model of private equity seeking profit does not easily work for large projects unless a significant partner is the gubment. The latter needed as a practical matter to levy eminent domain to acquire land where needed, or to cut through a military base, indian reservation, etc.
Quoth I:
I like what Tom Wolfe said in Our House to Bauhaus: Beautiful architecture is not too expensive, it is only more expensive. It's a fine trope. Government involvement is necessary for what we now achieve, but is not necessary to achieve what we need. Eminent domain is anathema to a free market, and given 1 Samuel 8, I doubt more than a few really want a free market. But there are alternatives to eminent domain: the greeks had property tax, and each citizen would assess his own property value, and the tax would be based on that. Sounds crazy at first, but any stated valuation was at the same time an offer to sell. In such a tax regime, we would not need eminent domain... corps would just buy up the land needed, and the market would dictate the route. And of course, don't get me going on indian reservations and military bases in a republic. I swoon.
Indeed, the US govt incents what is going on, which ought to incense us all. I'll say it again, it ain't about cheap labor, it is about cheap management. My bro-in-law is making astonishing bucks helping foreigners model their oil fields, in so doing, is making tech transfer. Yes, he is compensated well, but nothing compared to what he is saving his masters.
I think I heard that the chinese were building their own choochoos now... and would it not be wonderful if they began building railroads in USA. Again.
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