The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

392 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
bring and outlines the most effective ways for public officials to
go about the privatization process.
“We’re facing double trouble—our roads are in bad shape
and most governments are running deficits. Public officials can
significantly trim costs, and potentially save other programs, by
outsourcing road repairs and maintenance,” said Geoffrey Segal,
director of government reform and privatization at the Reason
Foundation. “This . . . guide . . . [is designed] to help governments
stretch tax dollars by taking advantage of private sector
efficiencies and management approaches that can reduce costs
and improve the quality of service.” 29
The obvious rejoinder to all this is that if the “State, county,
and city governments” are in such dire straits with regard to
street and road management, why come to their aid with offers
of private-enterprise expertise, which would still leave these
inept bureaucrats in control of the operation? Why does this
organization, ostensibly devoted to libertarianism, not suggest to
them that they divorce themselves entirely from these amenities
they have so mismanaged?
Then, there is, of course, the additional problem that if the
statist managers are so incompetent, how can we expect them to
successfully contract to private firms parts of their enterprise?
For, surely, the task of subcontracting is a skill that can be done
well or not. Poole implicitly assumes they can acquit themselves
well in this particular regard, when they have failed so dismally
in all else. But he offers no reason why this should be the case.
As anyone who has ever had to serve as a general contractor
for house building or repair knows full well, to pick the best carpenters,
electricians, plumbers, etc., to contractually obligate
them to finish their jobs on time without compromising on quality,
to orchestrate matters so that they do not hinder each other,
29 Geoffrey F. Segal, et al., Contracting for Road and Highway Maintenance
(Santa Monica, Calif.: Reason Foundation, 2003), p. 2.