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Re: (erielack) The Piermont Branch 6' guage

Kindly end the thread on government/corporate abuses and get back to EL
matters and the historical significance of having had the company around.
Nothing I've seen here is going to solve the problem.

Society seems to be content today to let whomever is holding the scepter
crush to little guy.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: <"BPRutter_@_aol.com">
To: <"erielack_@_internexus.net">
Cc: <"pamela_@_blast.net">; <BDTatar@worldnet.att.net>
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2000 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: (erielack) The Piermont Branch 6' guage


> I must add my voice in support of Messrs. Tate and Jordan.  How much have
we
> seen of how the government added to the costs of the railroads, and how
the
> hidden subsidies to highway trucking led to the problems the railroads
faced
> in the 60's and 70's.  There were several threads in this list not too
long
> ago about the effects of disproportionate real estate taxes and full crew
> laws, and their contribution to the demise of the EL.  A large part of the
> reason for the spate of parallel mergers in the 60's was that the
government
> opposed the end to end mergers which would have made more economic sense.
> When I was studying economics at UCLA, we had a professor who taught a
course
> in the economics of transportation.  He told us "Many of my colleagues
> believe that the ICC should be abolished, the building that houses it
razed,
> and the ground sown with salt.  I consider myself a liberal on this topic.
> The building can stay."
>
>     Remember that as far as protecting us from the ravages of the
Microsofts,
> et. al. is concerned, we always have the ability to not buy Windows or
> whatever.  That we do so represents a collective judgment that the
benefits
> of a relatively standard operating system (in the Windows example)
outweighs
> any potential harm from the size of Microsoft.  So long as there are no
> artificial barriers to entry, a so-called predatory pricing scheme only
> benefits the consumer by lowering prices.
>
>     The biggest lie in the world is not "Your check is in the mail" or
"Yes,
> I'll still respect you in the morning".  It is, instead, "I'm from the
> government, and I'm here to help you".
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net




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