[Bartweiss]

There's also a fairly good argument for this in the line of trains and highways. Planes aren't physically trapped on one course, but pretty much every nation heavily regulates who can fly where, when. Airports are often state-controlled, and even private ones need state approval to add new runways or flights.

What we have now is one of the ridiculous "private non-market" arrangements. When airlines in Europe fly empty planes to stop the government from taking their flight slots away, that's not the fault of the companies, but it's also not a functional market we should expect efficiencies from.

I'm not a fan of "regulate markets into dysfunction then nationalize them", but if the fundamental restraints on travel are too severe to let the market function freely, privatization stops making much sense.

[ntsplnkv2]

Privatization also stops making sense when private companies constantly need bailouts.

[Bartweiss]

Good point.

The TARP bailout in 2008 involved buying a ton of stock from troubled companies, but it was sold back to them as soon as they could buy the money back. And this will be the second bailout for a bunch of airlines.

So one of the most interesting ideas I've heard is that we shouldn't nationalize things by fiat, but when TARP-style bailouts happen, the government should just keep the stock, at least for a while. If it really was a one-off crisis, the shares are a good investment. But if it's a failing business, or one paying dividends and then looking for handouts, it's not just a money sink.