On "Free"ways and Interstates

A recent reader comment regarding air travel and its subsides and true costs got me thinking about the Interstate Highway System.  The 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, championed the creation of a country-wide system of interconnected multi-lane highways for cars and trucks to get around the country with ease and speed in the mid nineteen fifties, at the height of the car culture boom. 

I have traveled across the country a few times and primarily used these highways as a means of travel.  It is slick.  Fast, strait, bizarrely safe, and seemingly efficient.  But this idea of true costs brings up some points I will address here.

First of all, from a property rights perspective, the creation of this system was atrocious.  Quite a bit of private land was essentially stolen from the owners through the use of Eminent Domain. This is where the government decides that your property is worth more to the group than it is to you, whether it be productive farmland or pristine swampland.

Secondly, and most importantly as far as I am concerned, is the fact that we have essentially subsidized the long haul trucking and oil industry with these highways, which are still federally and state funded.  As a result of these "free" highways, it is more economically efficient for businesses to ship goods with tractor trailer trucks instead of trains.  Trains are astronomically more efficient in terms of energy consumption than individual trucks are at moving tons of material over long distances.  So, instead of letting the market figure out the most efficient way to move goods, the government did, and in doing so, has essentially given trillions of dollars to both the trucking industry and the more insidious oil industry.

Of course it is in the favor of "big oil" to have a system that uses a lot more oil, like big rig trucks, than one that does not, like trains.  I think this is just another example of corporatist government interventions into the decisions of the market which have resulted in the hiding of countless "true costs."

Audit the Fed Bill Gutted!

A little over a week ago a version of Ron Paul and Allen Grayson's bill to Audit the Federal Reserve was passed through congress by Sen. Bernie Sanders of VT.  Unfortunately the bill that passed has been heavily watered down from the one that Rep. Paul has worked relentlessly to get passed.

According to Ron Paul, he is very disappointed in Sanders quickly folding under to political pressure.  Sanders and Paul, who are sort of on the opposite ends of the spectrum philosophically, had agreed on this bill and worked together to get the original one passed.  Now, this lame version of the original may only cause more harm than good because it offers a one time Audit of the fed and only regarding the bailout money.  It says nothing of the Fed's dubious secret dealings with foreign banks and governments.  Now people can say, "The Fed has been audited, we found nothing, happy now?"


Again, this goes to show that there is no one in politics who holds a candle to Ron Paul in their ability to resist political pressure.  I have, from time to time, thrown a bone to the once seemingly principled Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders, even though they are socialist geeks, but now after Kucinich folded on health care and Sanders on the Fed bill, I realize there is only one Ron Paul.

GM Follow Up-I was right

As the always suave Nick Gillespie explains in this short video from Reason.com, GM did not pay back their loan for real.  General Motors was given a 50 billion (that's right, 50 BILLION) dollar TARP loan.  It turns out only a mere 6 billion dollars was an actual "loan". The rest was a generous gift from you and me and your grandmothers.  That loan was paid back from an ESCROW account set up for them.  They paid the loan back with money loaned to them from the government.  So next time you you see that ad, raise your clenched fist in disgust!

In Response

Regarding a thoughtful comment to my post Friendly Skies,
Colin,
Thanks for taking a look at this!

I guess I should clarify a little bit and say let the airports be in charge of their own security.

I think you are raising good points in regards to the minutia of air travel and security, but I don't see why a private company couldn't take care of all of these issues far more effectively and efficiently than a Giant central government bureaucracy. 

Having a plane crash is very, very bad for business in the airline industry.  Take away absolutely all subsidies and tax breaks given to the airlines and airports, put them in charge of their own security, and watch it flourish.  It will be more pleasant to fly, and you won't be treated like a criminal every time you board. 

Also, if the US government would stop slaughtering innocent people overseas, I suspect it would help the cause of airline safety a bit.