My favorite part of his comment is this:
“This is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It’s happening now. The problem is, it’s happening elsewhere.” He cited superior high-speed rail travel in countries like China, Japan, France and Spain
OK economics students, it is quiz time. Does demonstrating that trains travel faster in China, Japan and France justify the creation of high-speed train service here? Ignore the obvious public choice problems and instead answer based on understanding something you learned in week one of your economics training.
Or how about this one:
The rail upgrades are critically needed, Obama said, because the nation’s highways and airways “are clogged with traffic.
OK economics students, time for another quiz. If Dave Matthews regularly sells out his concerts and has people waiting to get in, would a critical solution be to upgrade the quality of Bette Midler concerts? Explain under what conditions this makes sense. Can you offer a superior “solution?”
OK economics students, it is quiz time.
“Too late, Prof, the mob has spoken!”
“Monorail!”
I would ask if we are such in favor of rail and non-auto travel, then why do we subsidize new road construction so much?