Socialist Progressives

about when certain industries should evolve (or be evolved) from a capitalist model toward a socialist model. Speaking generally: capitalism is a pretty good model for young, innovative industries, and/or industries mostly involving discretionary purchases.

Some industries, however, evolve into a more "public infrastructure" role. In recent history, the Internet might be the best example. Not too long ago, it was a novelty, and a "nice to have" but it is rapidly becoming effectively indispensible public infrastructure, much like electricity and phone lines have been effectively indispensible for several decades now.

Somewhat independent of that, is the notion that market-based decision making is only effective under certain conditions:
*) the decision space is small enough and simple enough for an average human to navigate, without extensive training.
*) a rich competitive environment is feasible, with lots of options to choose from
*) demand is fairly elastic

It's not hard to see that, for example, choosing what brands to buy while grocery shopping satisfies the above conditions fairly well, but things like electricity, internet, or health care do not. I've often thought that things like purchasing cars, or houses, lie somewhere in between.