The Local Mafia

This weekend I worked at a rural music festival. Chatting to one of the organisers as the event wore on, we discussed the Cost of Things.

"You know what the single largest expense was?"

"No."

He gestures to pairs of burly young men standing throughout the grounds. Well dressed in a black jacket, tie, smart trousers and shoes; high-viz jacket and their signature hard-hats. "We had to tell them how big the event was, and then they tell us how many of their guys are needed to protect us, and send us an invoice."

"And what if you didn't pay? Or hired private security?"

"They'd close us down."

"They can do that?"

"Of course they can, they're the Police."

Overpricing? What else do you expect from a monopoly?

As always, the Private Sector does it better and cheaper.

X-posted to the Southampton University Libertarian Society