Daniel Nairn at Discovering Urbanism brings up a great point about cul-de-sacs. Are they public goods, or truly unnecessary "socialism in its most extreme form"?Take the standard cul-de-sac that serves a handful of households. The purpose of this design is to exclude the general public from … [Read more...]
Who Owns the West?
Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution - Now is the Time for the Buffalo Commons:The Federal Government owns more than half of Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Alaska and it owns nearly half of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. See the map for more. It is time for a sale. Selling even … [Read more...]
Tolling NY’s East River Bridges Back on The Table?
[flickr: darren bryden]Congestion pricing schemes, touted as environmentally-responsible at the time of $4 gas, were defeated in New York City last Spring. However, as the market turmoil threatens to wreak havoc on tax revenues, fiscal necessity has lured New York State and New York City … [Read more...]
Another On “Conservatives” and Urbanism
While I sympathize with the theme and agree with regards to roadway spending and "conservative" hypocrisy, a recent article in the progressive The American Prospect takes a narrow-minded view of politics and urbanism, while throwing around broad generalizations about evolution and global warming to … [Read more...]
Block on Road Socialism
For quite some time, Economist Walter Block has been one of the more radical thinkers when it comes to advocating free market solutions. Many of his writings on roads and rent control are featured in the Links to Articles, Academic Papers and Books page.Today's Lew Rockwell Podcast features an … [Read more...]
Boudreaux: Roads Don’t Need New Taxes
Don Boudreaux to the Washington Times:LETTER TO EDITOR: Roads don't need new taxesThursday, July 24, 2008Upset that Virginians' taxes were not recently raised to construct more roads, State Delegate Brian J. Moran, Alexandria and Fairfax Democrat, declares that "Government has an … [Read more...]
Ikea Provides Private Transportation, Santiago-Style
[photo: flickr: moriah]In a perfect tie-in to yesterday's EconTalk podcast on public transportation, Ikea's new Brooklyn store provides free bus and ferry service to locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Not only is it free, but it's nicer than the $2/ride public alternative.Most … [Read more...]
EconTalk Podcast on Public Transportation
I regularly listen to Russel Robert's EconTalk podcasts. This week's podcast with Michael Munger from Duke University is particularly interesting, and possibly my favorite, along with the Milton Friedman interview.Photo by Flikr user Silvia SugastiProfessor Munger had just returned from … [Read more...]