Posted by Edward Ring at 8:52 pm on Apr 07, 2015 Comments Off on Desalination Plants vs. Bullet Trains and Pensions
Current policy solutions enacted to address California’s water
crisis provide an object lesson in how corruption masquerading as
virtue is impoverishing the general population to enrich a handful
of elites. Instead of building freeways, expanding ports, restoring
bridges and aqueducts, and constructing dams, desalination plants,
and power stations, California’s taxpayers are pouring tens of
billions each yearinto public sector pension funds – who
invest 90% of the proceeds out-of-state, and the one big
construction project on the table, the $100B+ “bullet train,” fails
to justify itself under virtually any credible cost/benefit
analysis. Why?
The reason is because infrastructure, genuinely conceived in the
public interest,lowersthe cost of living. This
in-turn causes artificially inflated asset values to fall,
imperiling the solvency of pension funds – something that would
force them to reducebenefits. Beneficial infrastructure is
also a threat to crony capitalists who don’t want a business
climate that attracts competitors. Affordable land, energy, and
water encourage economic growth. Crony capitalists and public
sector unions alike hide… Read More