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Originally Posted by Alon
Okay, so he's a successful entrepreneur at things that have nothing to do with the construction of infrastructure. That's "any" entrepreneur, sorry.
Infrastructure does not work like the Internet. The increasing returns effect is a lot smaller, which means that the first mover does not get to dominate the market. The amount of capital required is astounding, which is why none of this ever gets done by the private sector, except for the Chuo Shinkansen, which is built by a company that has windfall profits from the Tokaido Shinkansen. And Chuo comes after decades of experiments with the technology and has had a working test track for years. The workers are usually unionized, and a good business culture is crucial. A political culture that makes it easier to build things cheaply is also crucial - and no, China doesn't build things cheaply at all; try Spain, Italy, and South Korea. The technology is old, so innovation happens gradually, after extensive testing, and often the innovations are not about technology but about better organization and political cooperation (for example, through-service between different private companies).
Meanwhile, people with real-world experience in transportation infrastructure have built high-speed lines at a cost per unit length that would give LA-SF for about $13 billion. But they are not Great Entrepreneurs who sound like they could be Randian heroes, so you never hear about that in the media. |
so funny that you kept only the part about him being entepreneur of PAYPAL and decided to completely ignore, conveniently, the part about SPACEX and TESLA MOTORS.
THIS IS NOT the internet.
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The increasing returns effect is a lot smaller, which means that the first mover does not get to dominate the market
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exactly like the rocket market, where SpaceX acts
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The amount of capital required is astounding, which is why none of this ever gets done by the private sector
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exactly like the rocket market, where SpaceX acts.