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Comments on a friend's annual tax day rant led to her explaining her definition of central planning to include anything the government does to incentivize one technology/industry over another (for example, tax incentives for citizens buying more energy efficient appliances, or for companies to invest in alternative energy research).
Are the massive tax breaks to oil companies and the seriously messed-up formulas that govern road money (from fuel taxes) distribution also central planning, or does that not count?
From the Economist article linked in my previous post:
Also, In 2006 German road fees brought in 2.6 times the money spent building and maintaining roads. American road taxes collected at the federal, state and local level covered just 72% of the money spent on highways that year, according to the Brookings Institution, a think-tank. So, yes, kids, roads and driving are heavily subsidized, moreso than Amtrak, even. Other things that are subsidized: airlines.
Are the massive tax breaks to oil companies and the seriously messed-up formulas that govern road money (from fuel taxes) distribution also central planning, or does that not count?
From the Economist article linked in my previous post:
The federal government is responsible for only a quarter of total transport spending, but the way it allocates funding shapes the way things are done at the state and local levels. Unfortunately, it tends not to reward the prudent, thanks to formulas that govern over 70% of federal investment. Petrol-tax revenues, for instance, are returned to the states according to the miles of highway they contain, the distances their residents drive, and the fuel they burn. The system is awash with perverse incentives. A state using road-pricing to limit travel and congestion would be punished for its efforts with reduced funding, whereas one that built highways it could not afford to maintain would receive a larger allocation.
Also, In 2006 German road fees brought in 2.6 times the money spent building and maintaining roads. American road taxes collected at the federal, state and local level covered just 72% of the money spent on highways that year, according to the Brookings Institution, a think-tank. So, yes, kids, roads and driving are heavily subsidized, moreso than Amtrak, even. Other things that are subsidized: airlines.
