Munger and Roberts discussed the advantages and problems of the evolution of the system over the years.  In the case of the private system with over 3,000 competing private bus companies, accidents and injuries were common, and pollution was problematic.  However, the regulation and publicization of the buses led to unintended consequences that were probably far worse than the drawbacks of the private system.  Unfortunately, although the administration has apologized for the failures of the system, it would be politically impossible to revert to some of the beneficial aspects of the private system.

The post Private Buses: Econtalk Takes A Second look at Santiago appeared first on Market Urbanism.

As a great follow up to his posts at CafeHayek on government’s intervention in the housing market, Russell Roberts discusses the situation and bailout with reason.tv:

Also…

Here’s the video from an Economics forum discussion at MIT (my Alma mater) on Wednesday: The US Financial Crisis What Happened? What’s Next?

And another forum at USC. [HT Richard’s Real Estate and Urban Economics Blog]

The post Market Meltdown and Bailout Videos appeared first on Market Urbanism.

Housing markets without the benefit of hindsight

Fannie reaches its goals–sort of

Zero Down!

Fannie and Freddie’s other mission

Section 8

Bill cared too

Affordable equals “subprime”

Calm down

And don’t forget Andrew Cuomo

Shiller and fundamentals

The role of the CRA

It’s not the CRA

No money down, revisited

Bear Stearns, the CRA, and Freddie Mac

Stiglitz on the crisis

The post Russell Roberts on Government Intervention in Housing appeared first on Market Urbanism.

Photo by Flikr user Silvia Sugasti

Professor Munger had just returned from Santiago, Chile with some great insight into their transportation system. Up until a few years ago, Santiago had a completely private systems of transit and buses. He claimed that there were 3,000 different private companies operating transportation. The unsubsidized system worked very well and was profitable, until the city took over the transportation industry and forbade private companies from providing any transportation services. At the time the City took over, the planners thought they could improve the system by directing people to the subway system. It didn’t work, and now it’s a mess.

photo of crowds cramming into a subway station by flickr user Thokrates

I highly recommend taking an hour during your next commute to listen to the podcast.

EconTalk Podcast – Munger on the Political Economy of Public Transportation

Michael Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about Munger’s recent trip to Chile and the changes Chile has made to Santiago’s bus system. What was once a private decentralized system with differing levels of quality and price has been transformed into a system of uniform quality designed from the top down. How has the new system fared? Not particularly well according to Munger. Commuting times are up and the President of Chile has apologized to the Chilean people for the failures of the new system. Munger talks about why such changes take place and why they persist even when they seem inferior to the original system that was replaced.

The post EconTalk Podcast on Public Transportation appeared first on Market Urbanism.