| Comment | Yes, again with the right regulatory structures - if you provide natural monopolistic companies with the right to pass through R&D costs to consumers, then they will more than happily invest in R&D
As an example, we've had massive growth in renewables and innovation in the energy sector completely under a privatised regime, incentivised by regulated markets and appropriate subsidies, the rate of change in that sector since the 90s has been completely different to anything achieved under the energy boards
Nationalisation vs privatisation is only about the funding mechanism, neither has any inherent properties that mean you can or can't regulate and incentivise either form of institution as you choose. My argument is that in the case of natural monopolies it actually doesn't make a difference as the organisation of the companies/institutions involved is pretty much the same - really the only difference is whether the 5% returns and the risks of financial collapse are borne by pension funds or the public purse |
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