The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

282 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
question as a matter of law, its own law, but certainly not as a
matter of justice. The most just and hence best means of dispersal
of governmental holdings to the private sector is to give the
property in question, with no strings attached whatsoever, back
to the rightful owners, i.e., the persons from whom it was stolen
in the first place. For example, if the government nationalized a
house or factory, privatization should consist of the return of this
stolen property to its original and assumed rightful owner. If the
property was built with tax revenue or purchased on that basis,
as is true in the case of roads and highways, then it should be
given back to the people in proportion to their tax payments (or
tax burden, if this cannot be ascertained). That is, the rich should
get the lion’s share since they were forced to pay the most, and
the poor the short end of the stick since relatively little was plundered
from them in order to first erect the edifice in question. It
is only if, for some reason, the rightful owners cannot be identified,
and the property can reasonably deemed to have fallen into
a state of nonownership, that the principles of homesteading or
syndicalism should be brought to bear. 2 Another problematic distribution
scheme is to impose conditions on the new private
owners, however they are determined, such that they cannot, in
turn, sell their shares of it or buy as many others for which they
can find willing vendors; e.g., an attempt to keep ownership concentration
ratios below any given level. This was a mistake made
in the privatization of the British Columbia Resources Investment
Corporation. 3
ROAD PRIVATIZATION
With these remarks, we are now in a position to analyze the
special circumstances of road privatization. Must we modify any
of these general privatization considerations in this case?
2Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Democracy—The God That Failed: The Economics
and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order (New Brunswick, N.J.:
Transaction Publishers, 2001), p. x.
3T.M. Ohashi, T.P. Roth, Z.A. Spindler, M.L. McMillan, and K.H. Norrie,
Privatization Theory and Practice (Vancouver, B.C.: Fraser Institute, 1980).