Privatised, public utility monopolies are not only not natural, but the very anathema of free market capitalism which needs to compete for your dollar as opposed to just price gouging everything they can. And from we the people used to own, not nailed down! And the direct consequence of ideologically driven Trogladites selling the people's property, to almost anyone with a fistful of dollars!? If the price-gouged consequences are not to your liking? What can we the people do about it? Build other stuff like rapid rail and other public amenities that reintroduces, genuine free market capitalism and genuine competition for your dollar! How? By Government funded and facilitated owner operator cooperatives. This is without quest the most cost-effective and efficient PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, FREE MARKET business model ever created. The only deal breaker! Setting too few and establishing more monopolies, when they should at the very least be set up as quadrupoles. And in any event, how are we to gainfully employed the people when most of their occupations have been automated. A universal wage or sit down money provided by the last surviving taxpayers? You think?

Where on Earth do you find these fools,this one may be a bit brighter than most,but anyone who has had anything to do with the disaster that is Trump in he US should be ignored
Then while here attaches himself to the utter idiot call Roberts & Hanson's one nation good god how stupid do you & they think we are
One Nation is a Ponzi scheme for the Benefit of Hanson they have no policies other than a moveable one who hates anyone not white the rest it depends who she talked to last
Shes in the same boat as Hinch neither are worth the time of day for anyone who can actually think

Here the idiocy of Austrian Economics is plain for all to see.

Everyone else understands that natural monopolies exist where the fixed cost of serving customers is a high proportion of the total cost. This alone is a huge barrier to new entrants, And where competition exists, it is likely to be limited rather than aggressive.

But that doesn't fit the Austrian School's dogma, so instead they resort to cognitive dissonance to claim natural monopolies don't exist!

John Ryan - Congratulations, you have dedicated 6 lines consisting of 115 words.

How about coming back with why you think the author is wrong etc.

Privatized, price gouging monopolies cannot stand. As they harm the economy by killing the goose that lays the golden egg or the discretionary spending that alone props up/supports the domestic economy. We confront a future where automation will remove as much as 90% of former occupations. And with a school system where the STEM subjects we'll need for this economy, are just not compulsory. And if nothing much changes with even more privatized monopolies and foreign corporations deciding our economic future. This is why we need to reject foreign-based privatized monopolies, not required to compete for domestic market share. Instead, we need to understand that united we stand, divided we fall and one only needs to look at the posts of some of our contributors to understand, we are anything but a united nation. But more like beggars expecting our foreign masters to be more than generous. Cooperative capitalism is all that manifests as a solution that reverses some of these disastrous outcomes for the nation and our economic sovereignty. As owner operated co-ops automate, instead of laying off staff they'd be far better served ramping up production and reducing margins increase volume/market share. And create an economic paradigm where the rich get richer and we are all in that camp! And essential that those of us who don't get STEM subjects are encouraged to use what gifts they have in marketing and production as co-owning owner-operators, with costs, the monolithic monopolies, will just not be able to compete with! That's how we dispose of privatized foreign-based or controlled, price gouging monopolies, And as we deliberately preference that business model! Squeeze the foreign interloper out of our domestic market, then challenge them fo a growing global market share and with a private enterprise, free market business model so effective and cost-effective that they with their enormous overheads and massive running costs, cannot ever hope to match! Alan B.