Chris wrote:
Empirically, the outcome of electricity deregulation is quite clear (i.e. a matter of fact(*), not of belief) -- private households must pay *more* and the grid reliability decreases. AC >>But if the households paid more to provide more redundancy to the grid, reliability is likely to increase. If you believe that competition is a "good thing" you might be persuaded to pay slightly more for the competitive outcome knowing that this is the outcome that brings the best chance for process and product innovation in the future (or so the myth goes, and so reality has actually shown). Chris The only ones to benefit are corporate customers (energy squanderers) and power industry shareholders, at the expense of everyone else and the environment. This outcome is not an accident but the very purpose of deregulation. AC Consumers also benefit to the extent that innovations take place. This has been the case in telephony and airlines (lots of problems but lots of innovations). Chris "Belief" plays a role here only in the sense that - egoists "believe" that a system that benefits themselves is best, and - brainwashed lemmings will "believe" anything, even if it hurts them. AC No, I think that some people believe that competition with its costs will lead to a better world and others believe that market controls with its own set of costs will lead to a better world. And why these 2 belief systems can keep going and from whence they spring is probably something that Dr. Freud might be able to answer. _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
