time.com— Companies are buying leases of public highways, bridges and tunnels from states desperately trying to improve infrastructure.
Oct 21, 2007View in Crawl 4
Hey it's pretty simple. Just invest in one of the companies that bought the toll road, and the dividend flow from it will go for years. I bought some Macquarie Bank when they started doing this years ago and I've made enough money from it to fund many many toll road trips. I think it's funny how lots of people in Australia are starting to own lots of American and English infrastructure. Well, if you're silly enough to sell it...our banks and investment funds are smart enough to buy it. I especially like owning a tiny fraction of the London water supply. Now there's a rock solid investment if I ever found one.
The thing to remember is this isn't true privatization, it is a public-private partnership, which should always raise eyebrows. I could see all roads being truly private, but this isn't that. We already do pay to use them via gas taxes, but so much of this is being siphoned off to pay for light-rail and other ridiculous transportation boondoogles.
"First off, two of the 9/11 hijackers were from Dubai"Okay? Nearly all murders committed in the United States are committed by United States citizens."Were Dubai allowed to purchase that port, then people from Dubai could easily move in an out of this country at will, completely skipping Customs"Wrong. Security and customs would not have become Dubai Ports World's responsibility."Ignoring the security implications of this deal is asking for another terrorist attack on American soil"There were no significant security implications."Selling that port would be the same as selling to their government."No. Dubai Ports World is a subsidiary of a holding company. The port would still be US territory governed by US law with US customs regulations still applicable, had xenophobia not stopped the deal."Thirdly, just because other countries welcome them to control their ports does not mean we should."Other countries don't regulate their economies based on fear. Why should the US?
Damn, that's discouraging. I've often thought that if it gets too insane here in the U.S. I might emigrate to Australia. When gas broke US$3/gallon, I bought a longboard skateboard, which I now ride all the time. Beats the hell out of driving, seriously fun, and girls dig it. When it starts raining s**t, plant rosebushes :)
brucerchapmanOct 22, 2007
Hey it's pretty simple. Just invest in one of the companies that bought the toll road, and the dividend flow from it will go for years. I bought some Macquarie Bank when they started doing this years ago and I've made enough money from it to fund many many toll road trips. I think it's funny how lots of people in Australia are starting to own lots of American and English infrastructure. Well, if you're silly enough to sell it...our banks and investment funds are smart enough to buy it. I especially like owning a tiny fraction of the London water supply. Now there's a rock solid investment if I ever found one.
bratpack8Oct 22, 2007
The thing to remember is this isn't true privatization, it is a public-private partnership, which should always raise eyebrows. I could see all roads being truly private, but this isn't that. We already do pay to use them via gas taxes, but so much of this is being siphoned off to pay for light-rail and other ridiculous transportation boondoogles.
fjc8Oct 22, 2007
"First off, two of the 9/11 hijackers were from Dubai"Okay? Nearly all murders committed in the United States are committed by United States citizens."Were Dubai allowed to purchase that port, then people from Dubai could easily move in an out of this country at will, completely skipping Customs"Wrong. Security and customs would not have become Dubai Ports World's responsibility."Ignoring the security implications of this deal is asking for another terrorist attack on American soil"There were no significant security implications."Selling that port would be the same as selling to their government."No. Dubai Ports World is a subsidiary of a holding company. The port would still be US territory governed by US law with US customs regulations still applicable, had xenophobia not stopped the deal."Thirdly, just because other countries welcome them to control their ports does not mean we should."Other countries don't regulate their economies based on fear. Why should the US?
edd17Oct 24, 2007
Capitalism works for better for my bread and shoes - why not my internal organs?
thecatcantalkOct 24, 2007
Damn, that's discouraging. I've often thought that if it gets too insane here in the U.S. I might emigrate to Australia. When gas broke US$3/gallon, I bought a longboard skateboard, which I now ride all the time. Beats the hell out of driving, seriously fun, and girls dig it. When it starts raining s**t, plant rosebushes :)