The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

250 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
did indeed address and solve problems of this sort in this manner,
it would still be a Herculean job to convert our present society
into that one. Even worse, we have only our managerialentrepreneurial
speculation to buttress these suppositions,
nothing more.
On the other hand, we need not be too pessimistic about this
either. An imperfect privatization will be far preferable to none at
all. Government streets are an administrative and safety nightmare.
15 It is inconceivable that private initiatives could do worse.
In any case, the same challenge faces the privatizer of all industries
now in government hands. Even the post office and public
education, the privatization of which are far easier on theoretical
grounds (there are no linkages between them and virtually all
other private property), present complicated problems of equity,
transition, etc., as do streets.
Ordinarily, under laissez-faire capitalism, the owner of a private
enterprise could charge whatever price he wished for the
goods or services he supplies. If you didn’t like the pricing or any
other policy of McDonalds, you are free to patronize Burger King
or Wendy’s, or any such other emporium, or buy your burgers
from the supermarket and eat them at home. It would be a bit
harsh, however, to allow the new private owners of the street to
engage in such an exercise of “economic freedom.” This is
because in the world where all streets were privatized from day
one, no one would have ever built a home or a business without
first contractually preventing the road owner from such unilateral
behavior. Rather, there would have been an agreement preventing
this, either through contract, or by making the home or
business owner a partner in the street enterprise. Were we now to
allow the new road owners to impose their unilateral decisions
on travelers, this would in effect make a gift of the entire economic
value to them, not only of the roads, but of virtually all
15 Road fatality statistics are as follows: In the year 2000, there were
41,804 motor vehicle deaths. See on this http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/acc-inj.htm;
accessed on 7/18/02.