Govts more prey than predator in public-private partnerships

Opinion: It seems likely we are entering a time when more publicly owned assets, or assets with a high public-interest component, are going to be turned into some form of public-private partnership. The drive for this is a perceived shortage of infrastructure and other capital funding at central and local government levels which will be substituted, in whole or in part, with private capital.
There being no free lunch, the community will of course still pay the costs of the funding but through charges of various kinds rather than taxes or rates. At one level it is strange that one might substitute more expensive for less expensive capital, let alone capital with a shorter time frame for longer time frames on long-­­term assets. But the potential for political blame avoidance is apparent, and allied with a perception that private capital will bring with it superior management and governance skills, it seems persuasive to decision-makers.