[pavel_lishin]

Would the government be buying that steel, if they own the infrastructure for it? When I grab a cucumber from my garden, I'm not exactly paying myself for it.

And the property, business and income taxes still need to get paid.

[dheera]

That's the point. Instead of buying it, they can just have it. By $50 I meant that they're buying everything at-cost internally. Only $50 of taxpayer money is needed to procure that steel, instead of $100.

> And the property, business and income taxes still need to get paid.

Not if the government owns it and they decide it's tax exempt. They can also build it on government land, and decide that government land is property tax free.

[ajju]

Buying state owned enterprises and running them more efficiently to double their valuation (or more) has been a reliably profitable business in many countries. This suggests to me that government bureaucracy, lack of accountability etc. could result in “at cost” trending to $100 or more if government buys private companies, or starting close to $100 if government starts a new one.