The post-Forbes rock and roll continues. In this interview, I put the "water crisis" in context and tie together wholesale auctions and retail conservation pricing as an integrated means of using prices and markets to manage scarce water.
The Bottom Line:
If we had a reasonable price on water, we could have a sustainable water supply everywhere, forever.Please comment at Business Pundit.
People will have 100% reliability IF they are willing to pay. If businesses want reliable water, they pay. If poor people want to use water for more than drinking and sanitation, they pay. If a guy wants to irrigate his golf course, he pays A LOT.
The food supply would shift to higher value crops (less alfalfa and more broccoli). Food prices would go up, but they would reflect the true cost of growing food, not the subsidized cost from unsustainable practices.
[snip]
The general population has mixed reactions to his proposals. Although some think that water should be subjected to even stronger market forces, the majority find it hard to put a price on water.
"Water is a very emotional subject for people," he says. "They don’t want to use markets for allocating water, but if they don’t there won’t be any."
