The Red Queen’s Race

Early edition, since I’m not going to be at work Thursday or Friday. No new amendments showed up, and I didn’t work on any, so I’m still at two amendments on my Amended docket.

I did manage to complete a first action on my oldest Regular New application, so that’s something.

“Troublesome from a Free Market Perspective”

There was an article in Reason earlier this week about Settle making a mess of things, and having to forgive 200,000 parking tickets. I noticed one paragraph in particular:

“Seattle, like many cities, provides a lot of on-street parking for free. Not charging for these spaces is troublesome from a free market perspective; taxpayers writ large are paying for parking spaces that a smaller subset of drivers use. The rent-free land provided is effectively a subsidy to these drivers.”

To be consistent, one may also write that the low-rent land provided to homeowners, business owners, and speculators in vacant lots is also a subsidy to these landowners, although some of the landowners in question are heavily taxed on their improvements, earned income, and capital investments; and tht this is troublesome from a free market perspective. A consistent free marketer should be a Georgist.

Written on a train headed to Philadelphia, from which I hope to catch another train, and arrive at Princeton t9 attend a Georgist affair.