Re:Walmart Gets Into Health Care
by bhupy on Tuesday February 25, 2020 @08:08PM
(#22419352)
> Water, electricity, phone services (and other communication), roads
These are all natural monopolies due to the limitations of public infrastructure. Such natural monopolies don't necessarily exist for goods/services like food, clothing, and medicine (most notably, over-the-counter generic medicine). Communication is largely left to the market, rather than government coordination/pricing.
> but even there I think there's room for a government foodbank/clothes bank style option.
Either that, or just providing the poor with money to buy food at market-rates, i.e. food stamps.
These are all natural monopolies due to the limitations of public infrastructure. Such natural monopolies don't necessarily exist for goods/services like food, clothing, and medicine (most notably, over-the-counter generic medicine). Communication is largely left to the market, rather than government coordination/pricing.
> but even there I think there's room for a government foodbank/clothes bank style option.
Either that, or just providing the poor with money to buy food at market-rates, i.e. food stamps.