home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!darwin.sura.net!sgiblab!public!btr.com!timlee
- From: timlee@public.btr.com
- Newsgroups: sci.econ
- Subject: Mass Transit vs. Private Cars Re: Question about
- Message-ID: <7995@public.BTR.COM>
- Date: 14 Sep 92 07:25:13 GMT
- References: <1992Sep12.011348.3455@leland.Stanford.EDU> <1992Sep13.223901.4088@desire.wright.edu>
- Sender: timlee@public.BTR.COM
- Reply-To: timlee@btr.com (Timothy J. Lee)
- Followup-To: sci.econ
- Lines: 25
-
- demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man) writes:
- |bohnert@leland.Stanford.EDU (matthew bohnert) writes:
- |> I plan to vote libertarian in the upcoming election (due to the clear
- |> lack of any acceptable alternative), but I find myself wrestling with
- |> some of what I perceive, perhaps erroneously, to be `good things' for
- |> society that the Libertarians appear to be against.
- |>
- |> The first that is obvious to me is government subsidized mass transit.
- | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- | That's probably the biggest sticking point. Why waste money on
- |inefficient operators?
- | On the other hand, if mass transit is "a good thing" then enough
- |individuals and businesses should be willing to participate in the funding,
- |building, and operating of a mass transit system.
-
- But isn't it also true that mass transit's main competitor, private
- cars, is also heavily subsidized (roads, traffic cops, paramedics to
- clean up after accidents, externalities like pollution)? Fair
- competition would require that the subsidies for both mass transit
- and private cars be removed.
-
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
- Timothy J. Lee timlee@btr.com ...!decwrl!btr!timlee
- This message comes with no warranty, not even an implied warranty of
- fitness for any particular purpose.
-