The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

396 The Privatization of Roads and Highways
It, of course, cannot be denied that under any reasonable privatization
scenario for highways, their owners would charge
peak load pricing fees—higher during rush hours and lower at
other times—that would tend to quell congestion. 36 But the stark
fact is that we are not now enjoying an era of private road enterprise.
It makes all the difference to a libertarian, or at least it
should, that these amenities are now in the compulsory public
sector. Yes, there is a choice as to which roads to use, and at what
times of day or days of the week, but we are coercively obliged
to pay taxes to this selfsame enterprise, therefore its activities and
cannot properly be viewed in the benign way that Poole seems
them.
I have criticized a plethora of advice given by Reason to the
roads authorities as highly improper. What kind of advice to the
state is legitimate? Tell them to cease and desist. The model has
been established by John Galt. 37
Rothbard also weighs in on this question:
The economist, of course, is a technician who explains the consequences
of various actions. But he cannot advise a man on the
best route to achieve certain ends without committing himself
to those ends. An economist hired by a businessman implicitly
commits himself to the ethical valuation that increasing that
businessman’s profits is good. . . . An economist advising the
36So inept are present authorities (who, now, can ever mention this word
without Eric Cartman’s pronunciation of it ringing in their ears?) that they
actually engage in the very opposite policy. That is, they exacerbate the
peaks and valleys of daily travel, not counter them. Typically, a road, bridge
or tunnel authority will offer a monthly or yearly pass at a price per trip
lower than that which would otherwise obtain. Regular travelers, then, get
a bargain, compared to all others. But which type of motorist is more likely
to utilize these amenities during rush hours, toward the city in the morning,
and away from it in the evening? Precisely the regular users, who, at
the lower per trip price, are now encouraged take to the highways even the
more.
37See Ayn Rand, “America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business,”
reprinted in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (New York: Signet, 1957).