What Would Happen If We Fully Deregulated Utilities?

Monopolies, and arguments for and against them, have been a source of disagreement since the start of the industrial revolution. From railroads to Big Tech, the consolidation of power in the hands of a few private entities, the nationalization of large industries and all of the shades of grey in-between have been a constant push and pull.

For much of the 20th century, Ma Bell dominated telephone service in the United States. Its monopoly was dissolved on January 1, 1984, leading to increased competition and innovation in telecommunications sector. You could argue that to some extent, this competition got us to the modern internet. Interestingly, when there wasn’t a monopoly for the fiber-optic cables laid in the late 1990s, it resulted in a bubble of historic levels. Avoiding this volatility has been an historic argument for monopolies.

One of Rockefeller’s arguments for the value his...