Even in remote villages, you can find shops providing tea and cigarettes/biris to the satisfaction of local consumers. But there are no schools, roads or drinking water. Now, we will all agree that schools and roads are more important than tea and cigarettes. Why, then, are lower-priority items well provided but not the higher-priority ones?

For two simple reasons. Shopkeepers are accountable to consumers, and suffer if consumers are unhappy and take their custom elsewhere. Second, shopkeepers have an incentive: the more tea and cigarettes they sell, the more they earn. So, the existence of incentives and penalties (sticks and carrots) ensures a satisfactory supply of tea and cigarettes. This is the quintessential reason why, in a competitive environment, the private sector delivers.

But the people