Today’s Joke Is Tomorrow’s Leftist Orthodoxy

One of our Week in Pictures items last Saturday was this:

Lo and behold, The Nation magazine comes along with this:

Instead of driving, people could take buses, which could run with expanded times and without charge for another $40 billion.

Fighting inflation by making the bus free is counterintuitive, but the provision of public services insulates people from the capricious market, which in turn exerts downward pressure on prices.

It get’s better!

I called Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Elected in 2021, Wu is the country’s leading advocate for free buses, and I wanted to know if she saw herself on the front line against inflation. . .

There is a Whac-a-Mole quality to this kind of inflation fighting; it lacks the occult, meteorologic power of Federal Reserve action. Free bus lines, for example, could lead to increased rents as landlords capture the benefit.  Wu is aware of the potential problem, which is partly why she campaigned on the return of rent control to Boston.

Gotta love these people: expanded bus subsidies and more market regulations like rent control.

Hat tip: WSJ Notable and Quotable page.

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