[nekusar]

Properly planning the economy, ala the Chinese tier system, is a good thing.

They have 3 tiers. Its called 新基建 - *Xīn Jījiàn

Top tier is for essentials like food, electricity, internet/comms, water, sewer. Heavily controlled, usually state owned companies.

Middle tier is stuff that's integrated into essential tier.

Lower tier is forefront of tech, and not at all critical for life.

And a reminder that even fucks like Nestle said that water is not a human right. But every capitalist would do their damndest to put a sale price on anything they could. They'd charge breathing if possible.

[consensus1]

This is not that dissimilar to the US. The government either controls directly or is very heavily involved in all those things you listed in the top tier.

[fakedang]

The fact that PG&E exists is a clear contradiction to your statement.

In most countries, water, electricity, waste management and public transport are government controlled through and through, even if the government might sell shares to the public markets or induce competitive bidding. Except in dysfunctional countries of course.

[consensus1]

It's the opposite of a contradiction. PG&E must have its pricing and capital expenditures approved by the government. It is a borderline government entity.

[etc-hosts]

PG&E still exists to maximize returns for its investors.

[gottorf]

Only theoretically. PG&E's dividend yield is worse than savings accounts currently, and its stock price hasn't gone anywhere in 40 years. In fact, if you invested before the 2017 fires, you could have lost 85% of your money and, to compensate for your trouble, not even received a single red cent of dividend in six years.

"Borderline government entity" seems more reflective of reality.