In Wichita, trash collection is a competitive industry. Dozens of local companies offer subscriptions to pick up residential waste. The fact that a dissatisfied subscriber can make two phone calls and change her trash company has resulted in low prices, and excellent service. Companies provide and maintain free 90-gallon trash barrels with sturdy wheels and hinged tops. In Houston, by contrast, the city maintains a legal monopoly in residential waste pick-up.
Competition is forbidden.
No barrels are provided. Houston residents must remember to put those at the curb on a particular day that comes once each month. Sometimes the city will pick them up then. Competition is one of the most important reasons why the market is superior to government as a system for producing goods and services. Those who fear that economic freedom will allow producers to take unfair advantage of people often neglect this fact and call for industries to be tightly regulated or taken over by government.