Comments on: Markets without Capitalism as part of P2P economics (2): Kevin Carson’s transition proposals https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/markets-without-capitalism-as-part-of-p2p-economics-2-kevin-carsons-transition-proposals/2011/04/30 Researching, documenting and promoting peer to peer practices Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:45:59 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.14 By: Todd S. https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/markets-without-capitalism-as-part-of-p2p-economics-2-kevin-carsons-transition-proposals/2011/04/30/comment-page-1#comment-484317 Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:45:59 +0000 http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=15673#comment-484317 And subsidized freeways are behind the car culture and suburban sprawl.

Definitely. In my estimation, the rise of the suburb and simultaneous decline of the township can be traced directly to the synergy between zoning restrictions and subsidized highways.

]]> By: Kevin Carson https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/markets-without-capitalism-as-part-of-p2p-economics-2-kevin-carsons-transition-proposals/2011/04/30/comment-page-1#comment-484276 Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:58:18 +0000 http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=15673#comment-484276 Thanks, Michel. Re funding highways via tolls: I would argue that funding them from general revenues rather than from a revenue source directly connected to use acts as an externality and distorts the consumption of transportation. Since payment is divorced from use, transportation is artificially cheap. And as is the case with any subsidized good, people consume more of it. Subsidized transportation generates distance between places. It subsidizes large firms with long distribution chains and extended market areas at the expense of smaller enterprises serving local markets, so that the economy is dominated by artificially large corporations. And subsidized freeways are behind the car culture and suburban sprawl.

And it’s really not so good for poor people. Before subsidized highways, most cities were compactly built around central business districts, with most ordinary people living within foot, bike or streetcar distance of where they worked and shopped. Subsidized sprawl makes the poor person’s feet or bike less usable, and turns the car into a necessity.

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