25% of US/Canada trade depends on a single privately owned bridge

Re:25% of US/Canada trade depends on a single privately owne... by PaywallBuster on Monday January 15, 2024 @10:22AM (#39001945)

Looking at the wiki, looks like the government failed to start a bridge or tunnel for over 100 years

so is it wrong that an individual risked millions of his own money for a "public service" ?

> ... construction of a tunnel under the river ... Construction started in 1871 and continued until ventilating equipment failed the next year; work was soon abandoned

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Re:25% of US/Canada trade depends on a single privately owne... by arp242 on Monday January 15, 2024 @10:45AM (#39002194)

> so is it wrong that an individual risked millions of his own money for a "public service" ?

No, nothing wrong with that.

The problem is when that person tries to stop any "competition" (e.g. a new bridge). Infrastructure like roads and bridges aren't "just" a business, they're needed for basic economics and trade to function. "We invested in this bridge a 100 years ago so now no one can build a new bridge in the general area until the end of times" is nothing short of delusional. When people complain about "capitalism" what they usually mean isn't the basic concept, but this kind of hyper-narcissistic money-grabbing wankery.

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Re:25% of US/Canada trade depends on a single privately owne... by PaywallBuster on Tuesday January 16, 2024 @01:22AM (#39010072)

nothing wrong with protecting one's investments

its kind of the government's fault for having many ways it can be "corrupted" or that politics are inefficient and too slow to move (having a new bridge approved and built)

Canada managed to go through with it

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