Capitalism, Communism, Cars and Congestion

Not long ago I mused over the analogy between communism and our use of congestion as the manager of social equalization. In May 7, 2007 edition of Time Magazine, in their weekly list of ironic or amusing outtakes, the following appeared:

'Using economics to influence behavior is something this country is built on—it's called capitalism.' MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, New York City mayor, who is considering charging people a fee for driving into the heart of Manhattan

Fundamentally, Bloomberg is saying the same thing as was Joseph Giglio.

On the same page in Time, is their equally ironic and amusing “Numbers” column, where the following two statistics appeared:

2.35 million
Number of vehicles sold worldwide by Japanese car company Toyota in the first quarter of 2007

2.26 million
Vehicles General Motors sold in the same period, the first time Toyota has passed General Motors in quarterly sales to become the world's biggest carmaker

The socio-economic engine that creates the automobile will not moderate itself anytime soon. In fact, I myself look forward to buying another car before much longer.

Proper market pricing is the only solution. You, me, and every politician knows that. Unfortunately, too few admit it and even fewer have the courage to do anything about it.

I wish you success, Mayor Bloomberg.