24/07/2005 3:07:39 pm
Capitalism Saves Lives. Last week, my good friend Fredrik Segerfeldt did a successful presentation of his book "Water For Sale: How Business and the Market Can Resolve the World?s Water Crisis" at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. The book shows the fundamental human effects of capitalism as opposed to the planeed economy in terms of saving lives:

"More than a billion people worldwide lack access to clean, safe water. Some 12 million people die annually as a result, and millions more are struck by diseases associated with the lack of sanitary water. Those afflicted live mainly in poor countries where water distribution is run by inefficient public providers?97 percent of all water distribution in poor countries is public. ...

But ?privatization? of water distribution has met with stiff resistance. A coalition of NGOs and special interests argues that water is a human right and that the private sector would hike rates beyond the ability of the poor to pay. ... The very poor who are not connected to any water network have the most to gain from privatization since the rates they pay - 12 times more on average than the price of network water - fall dramatically when private companies connect them to the network."



Read more - and buy - the book here - >