02-02-2018, 07:31 PM
(02-02-2018, 05:03 PM)Benton Wrote: I read the other day where Blackstone has $40 billion set aside to move forward, so that got me wondering what they were doing. Blackstone already gets the kind of pork only our corrupt Congress can dole out from a laundry list of things, but with few ties to economic development. That got me wondering what exactly the money would be going for, as I thought the bulk of private sector money would go toward — is you mention — toll roads.
Blackstone, likely, won't do either. From what I've read and those I've spoken with in economic development, most likely, those companies with cash in hand like Blackstone will be looking to privatize things like gas terminals, ports, rural air port management, etc. One guy I talked to told me about a rural airport that had gotten in disrepair, a couple million dollars worth. Essentially, privatization of the airport allowed a private company to charge the state several million dollars over about a 8-year period. Because the state was trying to save a couple million bucks it spent 2 or 3 times that.
Privatizing bridges may work, but from many of the stories I've heard lately, I'll be investing in a canoe.
Will be interesting to see. I am willing to try privatization.
