ARNOLD KLING
August 14, 2011
The Top Political Contributors
August 11, 2011
Gender and the New Commanding Heights
August 11, 2011
Jamie Galbraith Makes an Assumption
August 11, 2011
Macroeconometrics: The Science of Hubris
August 10, 2011
Real and Nominal Bond Yields
BRYAN CAPLAN
August 14, 2011
The Effect of Thumb Sucking on Income
August 12, 2011
The Voice of Cold, Hard Truth to All Would-Be Educators
August 12, 2011
Ability, Morality, and Prosperity: A Paper and a Report
August 11, 2011
The Theory of Time and Frittering
August 10, 2011
Male Variance and the Remnants of the Gender Gap
DAVID HENDERSON
August 9, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken", Part Two
August 8, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken"
August 5, 2011
James Bovard on the Peace Corps
August 4, 2011
Summers Way Off on FDR and 1941
August 3, 2011
The "Amazon" Tax
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Surplus and shortage. Resolved by price movements. Not Rocket Science.
Tolls put prices on behavior. That makes it easier for economists to analyze the behavior with their models and number crunching.
It seems a little early to proclaim success after only one day. Where is all the traffic going? Now, money-hungry politicians, like those in New York City, want to emulate London's "successful" tax increase, er, congestion pricing.
Keith, there's a John Seabrook New Yorker article that discusses the very idea of charging in NYC:
http://www.nbierma.com/journalism/archive/020902newyorker.html
It would be relatively easy for Manhattan, apparently, with the existing toll bridges and tunnels, plus EZ-Pass. The political trouble starts with the fact that they are divided between two states as well as two authorities (the Port Authority and the MTA), only one of which is currently profitable.
"...like those in New York City, want to emulate London's "successful" tax increase, er, congestion pricing."
If there *is* a tax increase involved, at least it's a very visible tax increase. Compare that to income taxes, deducted from every paycheck.
Mr. Hackbarth is on the right track. Economists are (hopefully) trained to identify the "best deals" for collective expenditure.
For almost a century, western governments (especially that of the U.S.) have subsidized the automobile and fossil fuel industries at a level far beyond that afforded any other industrial sector. The resulting expenses occasioned by crises in public health and environmental disruption have gutted public treasuries that might have been better devoted to education and cultural programs, shelter, agriculture and, yes, far more cost effective energy and transportation infrastructure.
Why Keith considers the responsible politicians who want to encourage folks to abandon unnecessary automobile use to be "money hungry" is beyond me. News flash - there is such a thing as the public good! I just hope his folks taught him how to ride a bike.