The Pankian Metaphor 3088

the issue is that if an infrastructure has enormously hidden subsidies ... consumers might not make valid informed economic buying decisions. The transportion of goods increase their costs ... if those costs aren't directly exposed ... people may be encouraged to consume significant amounts of goods with enormous (hidden) transportation costs.

It is possible that a certain level of transportion infrastructure is in the national interest ... not just for invidiual consumers ... and therefor should be subsidized. However, roads are designed, built, and maintained based on the number of heavy truck axle-loads.

Completely hiding the true subsidized costs ... might encourage consumers to make economic buying decisions that increase the number of heavy truck axle-loads by a factor of ten or hundred times more than what was deamed necessary in the national interest. This could lead to enormous and unnecessary expediture of resources ... far in excess of what had been anticipated in any original policy planning decision.

If heavy trucking had to pay fully loaded infrastructure represented by their mile-axle-load activity ... the price of goods they transport would then be increased. then consumers would be better able to make informed buying decisions. this would be market forces at work and potentially led to more optimimal use of resources. when true infrastructure costs are hidden and not exposed ... then the efficiency of market forces to optimally utilize resources can be significantly subverted.

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