A Model for Nationalization from Austin, TX

When countries nationalize industries they are heavily criticized, but nationalization serves a very important purpose. Cuba and Venezuela were demonized for nationalizing the oil, telecom, and travel industries in their countries — despite the fact that companies like Exxon and Marriott were making billions on the backs of their citizens. These foreign corporations oppress their workers paying them a pittance for their hard work while charging a fortune for their services. The country where these foreign companies operate gets screwed coming and going. Nationalization solves this problem by keeping the profits out of the pockets of the fat cats who are basically stealing from the state. The citizens of Austin may have found a model that might avoid the negative PR typically associated with traditional nationalization efforts:

Step one — create rules and regulation that make it impossible for a particular industry to operate in your jurisdiction.
Step two — work with your citizens to incorporate a non-profit entity to take over the recently departed industry replacing the service in your jurisdiction.

Josh Baer explains how Austin, through the creation of a non-profit ridesharing company called RideAustin, is in the process of nationalizing the ‘factories’ that Uber built:

“It’s like Uber and Lyft walked away from a factory full of workers and a long list of repeat customers. If RideAustin can act quickly to provide a high-quality solution then we can walk into the empty factory and start it up again, capturing a large portion of the market in a short period of time for a fraction of the cost.”

RideAustin, with the help of the City of Austin, is taking over the ‘factories’ that Uber and Lyft spent millions of dollars building. Austin’s City Council and its citizens made a conscious decision to implement rules and regulations that resulted in the departure of Uber and Lyft. Uber and Lyft were extracting millions of dollars from the citizens of Austin — the new nonprofit will keep these funds in Austin — serving the people of Austin.

Cities across the United States can learn from Austin — nationalization doesn’t have to be a bad word. When you see a large corporation making millions on the backs of your taxpayers simply take over their factories and reap the rewards. There is no reason Austin should allow a private company from San Francisco make a profit from its citizens. Private enterprise IS the problem and government can be the solution. Austin has its eyes on other businesses including Airbnb and Tinder — the possibilities are endless. #powertothepeople