DDO TOC Round 1: Economics

Definitions will not be necessary unless my opponent tries to manipulate this topic. Milton Friedman has recieved the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Nobel Prize in Economics, and the National Medal of Science. . http://www.achievement.org... In Capitalism and Freedom, a book in which Milton Friedman detailed the purpose of government in a free society, Milton Friedman said of the government's ownership of the Grand Canyon: "I cannot myself conjure up any neighborhood effects or important monopoly effects that would justify governmental activity in this area. " (Capitalism and Freedom, Chapter II: Government in a Free Society). If government is to be limited in order to maximize liberty, and government ownership of the Grand Canyon is unwarranted and undesirable, then the federal government ought to privatize the Grand Canyon. The best means of doing this would be to auction it off to the highest bidder. I will now outline a case as to why private ownership of the grand canyon is preferable to ownership by the federal government. 1. The Grand Canyon would be most profitably utilized as a tourist attraction. "Today the park sees more than 5-million visitors each year. " . http://www.travelwest.net... "Overall, travel party size averaged 3.4 persons" . http://www.nau.edu... "Grand Canyon visitor expenditures averaged $536 per travel party in the park and $595 per travel party within 90 miles of the park. " . http://www.nau.edu... It is then easy to calculate that the Grand Canyon already attracts almost $800 million a year just into the Park itself. This number could easily be increased to over a billion dollars annually with marketing and more efficient management, etc. . http://hcsmsd.com... Besides, "market trends also suggest that privatizing public land would move land away from resource extraction and toward preservation and conservation. " . http://www.cato.org... 2. Companies naturally make decisions to maximize profits. This is common knowledge to the majority of the population. But what does this mean? It means that the Grand Canyon will continue to be used as a tourist attraction, even after it is privatized. Just as tourism companies that own beaches keep their beaches clean, the company that owns the Grand Canyon would naturally protect it and its serenity. So, with people voluntarily preserving the environment, there is no justification of government owning the Grand Canyon for this purpose. 3. Therefore, government ownership of the Grand Canyon is unnecessary and undesirable. The federal government could sell the Grand Canyon easily for tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. Assuming that the two scenarios of the government owning the Grand Canyon and the people owning the Grand Canyon are equal, then this revenue should be sufficient enough to make the latter option preferable. However, the two options are not equally preferable. It would also be better for a corporation to own the Grand Canyon for many reasons, including: -Public demand for the Grand Canyon would be more effectively met -More revenue would be attracted into the Unted States from foreign countries CONCLUSION The Grand Canyon should be privatized by auctioning it off to the highest bidder. Thank you. I now await my opponent's case.