California’s Water Resources vs Development

There are some good articles out there this morning, I want to share them with you…

Rationalitate – California developments halted over water

While the knee-jerk libertarian reaction might be disgust, I think the markets are probably ruined by the government, and current pricing isn’t what it would be in a market setting. UCLA professor Edward Leamer corroborates this, saying “[w]ater has been seriously under-priced in California.” So, the plan would have an effect similar to a liberalization: increased barriers on sprawling development. But obviously it’s only a nudge in the right direction, and is a woefully inadequate mechanism compared to outright liberalization of water resources.

Is it possible to liberalize the water market, which would be the ideal solution?