How to Provide the World With Clean Water

Government regulation of the water supply has proven to be detrimental not only to the water industry and wealth of nations but also the poor and most vulnerable citizens of humanity. Policies such as agriculture subsidies with restrictive regulations and price controls decrease the overall wealth of a nation, make water scarcer, and discourage companies from starting new projects and developing innovative technologies. Appropriate policies that can provide actionable and measurable solutions over the long term include reallocating agriculture subsidy funds to environmental programs and organizations that provide water R&D grants for water technology development, such as desalination plants, as well as decreasing regulation to set basic standards for clean water.

Why Protectionist Trade Policies Don’t Work

The global water crisis is a polarizing one, for one side focuses on the basic human right to life by way of providing basic needs including water, but the other side views water as an economic good — a commodity if you will — and takes into consideration the costs of time, labor, and technology needed to provide and distribute clean drinking water to the entire planet, which is a tall order at best. Government intervention including subsidies and price controls are intended to serve as policy solutions to the water…