Getting Nowhere, Very Fast

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By Thomas Sowell (Archive) · Tuesday, January 31, 2012

California has a huge state debt and Washington has a huge national debt. But that does not discourage either Governor Jerry Brown or President Barack Obama from wanting to launch a very costly high-speed rail system.

Most of us might be a little skittish about spending money if we were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. But the beauty of politics is that it is all other people's money, including among those other people generations yet unborn.

The high-speed rail system proposed for California has been envisioned as a model for similar systems elsewhere in the United States. A recent story in the San Francisco Chronicle used the high-speed rail system in Spain as an analogy for California.

Spain is about the same size as California, and has a similar population density -- and population density is the key to the economic viability of mass transportation, from subways to high-speed rail.

It so happens that I have ridden on Spain's high-speed rail system. It was very nice, especially since I did not have to pay the full costs, which were subsidized by the Spanish taxpayers.

While the Spanish government has been subsidizing the passengers on its high-speed rail system, the European Union has been subsidizing the Spanish government. Someone once said that government is the illusion that we can all live off somebody else. Spain's high-speed rail system is not even covering its operating costs, never mind the enormous costs of setting up the system in the first place. One reason is that half the seats are empty in the high-speed trains in Spain.

That is what happens when you don't have the population density required for passengers to cover the operating costs. You would need the hordes of Genghis Khan riding the high-speed rail system to cover the additional costs of the rails and the trains.

An economics professor at the University of Barcelona says that Spain "has not recovered one single euro from the infrastructure investment."

The most famous high-speed rail system is that in Japan, one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The "bullet train" between Tokyo and Osaka has 130 million riders a year. Tokyo alone has more than three times the population of San Francisco and Los Angeles put together.

In California, an element of farce has been added to the impending economic tragedy, if the envisioned high-speed rail system actually materializes.

The first leg of the system is planned to run between Fresno and Bakersfield. If those names don't ring a bell with you, there is a reason. They are modest-sized communities out in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley, well removed from San Francisco or Los Angeles.

You can bet the rent money that high-speed rail traffic between Fresno and Bakersfield will never come within shouting distance of covering the operating costs. Some people have analogized putting such a rail line between these two towns to the infamous "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska.

Why are they doing it? Because they can.

If they began this project where they want it to go -- between San Francisco and Los Angeles -- they would run into so much opposition from the environmentalists, and from local politicians influenced by the environmentalists, that the delays could take the high-speed rail advocates beyond the time limit for using the federal subsidy money. But the green fanatics have not yet taken over politically out in the San Joaquin Valley.

The only reason for even thinking about building a high-speed rail line between Fresno and Bakersfield is just to get the project underway with federal money, making it politically more difficult to stop the larger project for a similar rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In other words, they are going to start wasting money out in the valley, so that they will be able to waste more money later on, along the coast. This may not make any sense economically, but it can make sense politically for Jerry Brown and Barack Obama.

An old song ended, "You've been running around in circles, getting nowhere -- getting nowhere very fast." On high-speed rail.

Third-party content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Patriot Post.

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mmccrindle

This is an excellent example why socialism is still being tried after being so thoroughly debunked every single time it's been tried in the past.

Lefties cannot learn from past mistakes.

I suppose their mantra is rooted in narcicism as it is with Obama. "It didn't work last time because I didn't do it."

It's nuts is what it is.

Posted January 31, 2012 at 9:35:44 AM

JTG

Now, wouldn't Congress need to apprpriate the federal funding of the next Solyndra (high speed rail)? Or would Obama try an end around and fund it through one of his agencies? The point being that the House wouldn't fund this project.

Posted January 31, 2012 at 10:01:31 AM

Bob Loblaw

I want to thank you all, my fellow citizens for aiding some of my recent travel. I have had occasion to travel from our nation's capital to New York for business, and the best travel choice to me seems to be the Amtrak Acela hi speed train. By the time airport parking, shuttle, and TSA compliance is factored in to the equation, Acela is less time consuming, and economically competitive, especially since I can usually arrange my travel in off peak hours. My gratitude to you all is based on the fact that Amtrak is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars, and Acela uses a generous portion of your "investment". I will say that I find it to be a quick and comfortable trip, more relaxing than Coach airfare, especially since the bottom tier of fare is "Business Class", which provides free (subsidized) WiFi, and many creature comforts. Thanks again!

Posted January 31, 2012 at 10:11:41 AM

Robert A. Hall

Liberal-run California is the only state in worse fiscal shape than liberal-run Illinois, home of Obama, Blagojevich, Daley, Tony Rezko, the Chicago Outfit and, alas, me. Those of us not feeding at the public trough, for example union leaders who worked one day for the public collecting huge pensions thanks to Democrat laws, are afraid to open the daily paper and face the latest story of fraud, corruption and waste. High Speed Rail is just one of a thousand boondoggles they are pouring good Chinese dollars into in the on-going effort to make us like Greece. And they are winning. We are very near fiscal collapse, followed by social and political collapse. I appreciate Dr. Sowell fighting the good fight for my granddaughter. I will link to this from my Old Jarhead blog.

Robert A. Hall

Author: The Coming Collapse of the American Republic

All royalties go to help wounded veterans

For a free PDF of my book, write tartanmarine(at)gmail.com

Posted January 31, 2012 at 11:20:10 AM

Patrick

Mr. Hall, it must very discouraging for a rational person to have to live in an irrational state. You should write your state legislature and suggest they they modify the state's motto to "Land of Losers".

Posted January 31, 2012 at 1:19:57 PM

Holmes Simons

Professor, the current debt crisis is so overwhelming that the only possible reason for constructing high-speed rail anywhere in the USA is so there are more rails to which to tie the ignorant politicians who support such nonsense before running them over. If these insane projects made any sense, the greedy private sector entrepreneurs would build them. Know what I mean?

Posted January 31, 2012 at 1:46:15 PM

Oathkeeper Scott

Dr. Sowell describes another clear example of the folly of statism's central planning.

These scum and their Keynesian enablers who think we can just print print print our way to prosperity run roughshod over a nation largely fat, dumb, distracted, content, helpless, and asleep.

These 'progressives' have been killing America for 100+ years: a death by a thousand cuts, stealthy and gradual. Freedom circles the drain as the nanny state quietly and parasitically smothers freedom, in the service of saving us.

The hope for my young children's tomorrow, and their children, is darkening. My chains do *not* sit lightly upon me!

Posted January 31, 2012 at 2:50:20 PM

G. Daylan

Mr. Hall didn't memtion that Illinois is accepting federal dollars for a high speed rail line from Chicago to St. Louis. Thanks to Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation and an ex-congressman from Illinois who is a Progressive Republican, more billions in debt will be piled up for a useless project.

Posted February 1, 2012 at 3:33:37 AM

Graciela

Mr Sowell

I agree with your position and as a trained Regional Planer that worked in the OECD I have to disagree with the following statement :An economics professor at the University of Barcelona says that Spain "has not recovered one single euro from the infrastructure investment." First most of the money came from the EU to "level up" Spain and second I know that some infrastructure investment is recovered in the way of providing reliable access to remote regions that have agricultural economic bases. Their losses were drastically reduced when paved and safe roads were constructed. Its not the same like you point out density as well as is not the same when you "invest in basic transportation" to remote productive areas. But we still agree

Posted February 1, 2012 at 11:57:35 AM

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