Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!mit-eddi!zrm From: zrm@mit-eddi.UUCP (Zigurd R. Mednieks) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: State run enterprises Message-ID: <254@mit-eddi.UUCP> Date: Fri, 17-Jun-83 20:28:56 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.254 Posted: Fri Jun 17 20:28:56 1983 Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jun-83 02:13:38 EDT References: tekmdp.2029 Lines: 37 Your defense of trains ignores a whole class of very complicated economic interplay: Trains are more mechanically efficient, and hence eat less fossil fuel. But trains are remarkably labor intensive. But with better management that might not be a problem. But the cost of refurbishing all that track might cost too much. But if we decontrolled the cost of jet fuel trains might be able to compete. And so on, back and forth. The point is that nobody can know how these interactions will balence out. One can make educated guesses: Medium size cities will make it, big ones won't, etc. But deregulation does cut both ways. For example, nuclear power might well be uneconomical with the government support it gets. How popular will that make me with "Big Energy"? The problem with mucking around with intervention when the odds against doing it right are so high is that it costs jobs, money, and the liberty to pursue our own happiness. My proposal is nothing more radical than to trim back the current level of intervention, not eliminate it. The local beat cop can't bust a steel mill or a power plant for polluting, that's the EPA's job. Nor can he bust some whoopty-do broker for trading on inside information, that's for the SEC. On the other hand, forcing people to build cars with un-aerodynamic headlights in no way protects anyone's rights. Deregulation, and non-intervention, will hit the huge, environmentally damaging enterprises hardest. It won't be economical to grind up mountain ranges for oily sludge, or cover scenic valleys with dammed up water so people can park their Winnebagoes and go water skiing. Specifically, your concerns about energy efficiency should be easy to allay: Today, more than ever, the cost of energy determines the cost of a project. If we let profitability govern our decisions, energy will be saved in ways we never imagined. Sort of like soft paths to hard cash. Gag me with a buzzword. Cheers, Zig