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From: nrh@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Re: The free market (and lemons)
Message-ID: <28200535@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Jan-86 00:56:00 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.28200535
Posted: Wed Jan  8 00:56:00 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jan-86 14:43:44 EST
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Nf-From: inmet!nrh    Jan  8 00:56:00 1986


Two points, in response to Frank Adams:

        1. My understanding is that there were non-government-funded
        roads throughout New England in the early 1800s, but that
        farmers prevailed upon the legislatures to provide them with
        more and better roads.  I would have preferred paying the
        higher vegetable prices to giving the IRS more to work with,
        but wasn't consulted.

        2. I've also seen articles about the electronic gadget for
        vehicle billing.  My understanding was that some Asian nation
        was going to use it to bill people for using the main roads
        into town during rush hour.  The gadget took the form of a
        plate attached to the bottom of a car that was somehow
        readable by a senor embedded in the road.  The car doesn't
        have to stop or even slow down, as I recall.  Bills were to be
        issued monthly, I think.  The idea was to "tax" folks for
        using the streets during rush hour, and thus hold down the
        traffic to the impatient and the wealthy.

        It's not hard to see how a private road owner would require
        cash payment or  such a gadget before permitting someone to
        ride on his road (it would be easy to detect a car with no
        plate, and lower a  parking-lot gate 100+ feet in front of it
        while hooting warnings.  One could then collect the fare (in
        cash) at the gate. Naturally cars that knew they had to pay
        cash would ordinarily go in separate lanes.

        By the way, it's not an obvious threat to civil liberties,
        unless no-name, cash-in-advance accounts, and pay-as-you-go
        usage  are forbidden.

        3. There are reasonable road systems around that are privately
        owned but restricted in use -- logging roads are like this, and
        road rallies are often held on them.