Public-Private Partnership is Socialism
PPPs allow private companies to tyrannize the public
Blog post
Public-Private Partnerships: The Trojan Horse of Modern Development
You’ve probably heard the term “public-private partnership” (PPP). The name sounds harmless, even appealing—a collaboration between government and private business to improve your community and create something extraordinary. It's easy to believe the pitch when they say it will create jobs, bring tourism, or build shiny new attractions. But here’s the uncomfortable truth they don’t want you to see—PPPs are not about serving the public. They are often a dangerous form of cronyism that can destroy neighborhoods, tread on your rights, and leave taxpayers holding the bag when things fall apart.
What Are Public-Private Partnerships Really About?
At their core, PPPs are partnerships where the government works with private businesses to fund, construct, or operate projects. While this may sound like free-market economics, it often resembles something entirely different once you pull back the curtain. These partnerships blur the lines between public good and private profit. Politicians and their business allies use PPPs to consolidate power and wealth, enriching themselves while shifting risks onto the public.
When private businesses team up with their government contacts, they gain the ability to act like unelected dictators. They decide who wins and who loses. Need to relocate people to clear land for a hotel or stadium? No problem—zoning laws are waived, and eminent domain is abused. This means your home or business can be seized for far less than its actual value to make way for someone else's profits. The veneer of "public benefit" is all they need to bulldoze communities out of the way.
The Illusion of Risk-Free Development
Politicians often sell PPPs as a win-win situation. They satisfy their private backers while convincing taxpayers the projects come with no risks. "Revenue bonds," for instance, are marketed as self-sustaining—they are supposed to be repaid entirely through the project’s profits. But what happens when these projects fail? Taxpayers are the ones left to clean up the mess.
Look at New Jersey’s track record as detailed by Liberty and Prosperity. Failed PPP projects like the Revel Casino, underperforming stadiums, and costly public transit experiments have left communities poorer and taxpayers burdened with bailing out "revenue bonds." Despite politicians’ promises, when these projects go belly-up, governments often rush to cover the losses to avoid financial crises threatening their credit ratings. Who pays for this massive failure? You do, through higher taxes and cutbacks on essential services.
The irony is that every PPP is sold as a job creator, yet projects often collapse, leaving ghost-town developments, disbanded businesses, and taxpayers footing the bill. Meanwhile, the developers, architects, and lawyers walk away richer regardless of the outcome.
Public-Private Partnerships Are Socialism in Disguise
There’s a reason the term "public-private partnership" is so carefully chosen—it’s marketing. If politicians and developers called these arrangements "government-controlled socialism," many of their supporters would recoil. But that’s often what PPPs amount to. Unlike a free market, where businesses succeed or fail based on merit, PPPs allow private companies to offload their risks onto taxpayers while still maintaining profits. It’s a system that rewards political favoritism, not innovation or fair competition.
It isn’t just the finances that mimic socialism. When land can be taken under eminent domain, zoning laws are waived, and decisions are made without your consent, it’s hard to argue you live in a system respecting private property and individual rights. These partnerships centralize power in the hands of a few, leaving citizens with little say and even fewer protections.
The Cost of Compromised Communities
PPPs aren’t just hurting your wallet—they’re tearing apart communities. One example from Atlantic City speaks volumes. Decades of taxpayer-funded "economic development" projects, primarily through PPPs, have resulted in financial ruin, abandoned neighborhoods, and a shell of what the city once was. Projects touted as saviors failed to pay for themselves, but those involved still made fortunes. This didn’t happen because of bad luck. There’s no accountability when political insiders and private developers can rig the rules in their favor.
Even long-standing protections like zoning laws and land ownership mean nothing in the face of these partnerships. A PPP-handshake deal can reshape your neighborhood overnight—pushing out residents, demolishing historic buildings, and redefining what you call home. All that’s needed is a vague justification that it serves "the greater good."
The Call to Wake Up
If PPPs sound like a harmless way to get things done, that’s only because they’ve been dressed up with slick language and big promises. But make no mistake—this is not free enterprise. This is not serving the public. It’s a game that enriches the few at the expense of the many, undermining the fundamental principles of fairness, accountability, and private property.
Don’t fall for the myth that these projects are risk-free or designed to benefit you. Know the signs of a rigged system hiding behind the flashy promises of a public-private partnership. The same pattern repeats from waived zoning laws and eminent domain abuses to taxpayers left footing the bill. It’s time to call out these partnerships for what they indeed are—state-sanctioned cronyism and socialism masquerading as economic progress.
Demand transparency. Hold leaders accountable. And most importantly, don’t settle for a system that thrives by trampling over your rights, your neighborhood, and your future.
These links provide a range of perspectives on public-private partnerships, zoning laws, eminent domain, and their potential implications.