Reason.tv: Gridlock

WARNING: He says a cussword right at the end (just as the helicopter takes off) so stop it there if you don't want to hear it.

Okay, arguments I expect against his ideas:

1. Poor people couldn't use the toll roads.

My response: So, poor people (like me) can't do a lot of things, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be made available to the middle and upper class. Besides, the more middle and upper class people using the toll roads the less congestion on the regular roads, so the poor would benefit.

2. Tolls would be too high.

My response: Market forces would prevent that. The investors who paid for the toll roads want to make a return on their investment. They can't make money unless people use them. People won't use them unless the price is reasonable. market forces. It's the same reason why gas went form $4 a gallon two months ago to $1.79 a gallon today--market forces.

3. Foreign companies would invest and we'd be under their control.

From Reason.org: We drive foreign cars filled with imported gasoline. We wear foreign-made clothes. And we use foreign computers and televisions. These toll road companies are building and operating immovable infrastructure in Texas. They can’t take the roads back to Spain or Australia. They are spending money in Texas and creating jobs in Texas.

Most of the other complaints are typical socialist whining about power being taken away from the government. The bottom line is socialism fails everywhere it's tried. We see what great things happen when we allow the market to flow as it naturally does, without artificial manipulation, this is simple another example of that.

Posted by Danny Carlton at November 10, 2008 6:06 AM