Since Republicans and libertarians are so convinced that everything Krugman says is rooted in his socialist perspective and outdated Keynesian principles, and therefore provably false, we're all waiting anxiously to hear the rebuttal to these outrageous observations about traffic. Possible conservative responses include:
- What we need is more cars on the road, that will reduce congestion.
- Congestion is a good thing.
- Everything would be fine if the government would just keep its hands off our public transportation system.
- The only people who are pushing this whole congestion theory, which of course is only a "theory," are pointy-headed academics who need to prove congestion in order to continue getting grants to study it.
- Because scientists cannot predict tomorrow's congestion, let alone the congestion for 20 or 50 or 100 years from now, it's ridiculous to think they can tell whether long-term increases in congestion are occurring. And if they are occurring, it's an entirely natural phenomenon that happens periodically in the Earth's history.
- If the government would just stop interfering, all the congestion and related problems (pollution, etc.) would be solved by the wonders of the market.
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1 comment:
Libertarian response:
That's like saying a pasture is overgrazed because more people keep letting their cows graze there. Turns out that explanation tells us nothing, just like Krugman's. If someone was thoughtful, they'd ask why the system is set up to keep letting their cows graze there, and they'd get the same answer as traffic.
The congestion on the road is caused by an artificial government-generated tragedy of the commons. This artificially generated "free" resource invites an ever-increasing number of people to drive. How strange. Seems like this happens every time the government does anything.
Congestion pricing and/or private roads, aka allowing market mechanisms to work, would as usual solve the problems.
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