State Or Market-Approaches To Water?

"[T]he current water shortage in Asia didn't start with the tsunami... More than 1 billion people worldwide, many of them in the areas hit by the tsunami, lack access to safe drinking water."

"In the mid-1990s, corporations backed by the World Bank began installing and operating water systems in needy countries. They did it on a for-profit basis, with the view that charging for water was essential if it was to be allocated efficiently. Critics, though, argue that water essential for life shouldn't be privately controlled."

The Los Angeles Times editorial board wonders if the U.S. and Europe should "partner with Asian nations and help them build the sort of large-scale, government-subsidized water systems that exist in California and Europe."

Thanks to Chris Steins