Friday, January 14, 2011

The Distorting Effects of Transportation Subsidies

English: Map of scheduled airline traffic arou...
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




In an earlier post, I noted the work of Kevin Carson in his various writings on the creation of a national economic market in nineteenth century America C19 - a development which Carson describes as an artificial creation, funded by taxation and created by the State through its direct and indirect subsidies of national rail networks and communication infrastructure.

Carson's essay The Distorting Effects of Transportation Subsidies sets out this thesis in a more accessible form than his longer work on the subject and is a readable and persuasive arguement.

I also appreciate the fact that this shorter essay looks not only into the distant past but also at recent developments in the creation of national road networks and the civil aviation infrastructure, as examples of the similar State-lead trends.

Carson also shows the clear links between the creation of such networks and the consolidation of national markets, wedded to global firms.

Take a look and see what you think.






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1 comment:

between-the-lines said...

And it's a prize-winner, deservedly so.

I like the way it shows how the State - Government - Collective (call it what you will), the corporations, and destruction of the environment all go together, along with destruction of personal self-determination.

Did you read the comments underneath?

Sadly amusing to see the opposition Carson receives from some silly people who seem to think they are on his side, for daring to put a view implicitly derogatory of modern mass transportation and hypermobility.