Commenter Accountability

Following a more recent MR post to an older one of TC's analysis of the Pinochet regime's economic consequences, I noticed this in the comments from "neil" (bold emphasis added):

Also, Santiago (with over a third of Chile's population) has an odd, privately-owned public transportation system, where drivers own their own buses and keep their fares. This has been nothing short of disaster -- inefficient, as every bus route goes through the crowded center, more profitable than operating more efficient feeder routes, leading to hundreds more buses clogging the streets than are needed; dangerous, since bus drivers race each other in competition for passengers (I have personally been on a bus that hit a pedestrian and didn't stop, as well as in a car that was hit by a bus which didn't stop); polluting, since drivers have plenty of incentive to keep old, broken buses on the road rather than buying new ones; and not even really privatized since all of the dozens of bus companies raise fares simultaneously (and also band together for strikes against attempted governmental interference). If there was ever a place for central planning, it's here.

Posted by: neil at Dec 20, 2006 12:22:39 PM

"neil" got his wish, and how did that turn out?