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AVAILABLE NOW: New book from the Independent Institute paves the way toward a better tomorrow.
Professor James T. Bennett offers hope and a road forward for Americans sick of high taxes, high gas prices, and deep, deep potholes…
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This summer’s horribly high gas prices are still taking a toll on Americans’ wallets. Inflation continues to drive up the price of used, new, and electric vehicles alike. And America’s ever-crumbling infrastructure problem remains a major talking point from politicians on both sides of the aisle.
Partisanship may be at an all time high…but in times like these, most Americans can agree on at least one thing.
The roads had better work.
But the agreement stops there. After all, who pays for the roads? How do they pay, and when? Who came up with the idea of government-funded roads, anyway? And what’s been the cost of it all?
Highway Heist: America’s Crumbling Infrastructure and the Road Forward presents the long and winding history of America’s roads, the center of many a policy battle waged by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Author Professor James Bennett reveals just how much of the cost taxpayers have shouldered over the years, how many long-established neighborhoods and important cityscapes have been destroyed in the creation of interstates and highways, and what kinds of flawed interpretations of eminent domain made this mess possible.
Surely, there must be a better way.
Thankfully, Bennett’s newly released book offers solutions and hope.
Cutting through the bureaucratic haze, charged rhetoric, and endless politicization of ordinary American life, Bennett argues persuasively that a more serious, more sustained, and more focused look at private roads and toll roads is the road forward.
This book is essential reading for anyone who has ever lamented the hours lost to traffic, hit a pothole, and barked to no one in particular, “When will they fix the roads?!”
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About the Author
One of the nation’s foremost experts on the economics of government and bureaucracy, government spending, and labor unions, James T. Bennett holds the William P. Snavely Chair of Political Economy and Public Policy in the Department of Economics at George Mason University. A Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Dr. Bennett received his Ph.D. in economics from Case Western Reserve University.
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Praise for Highway Heist
“In Highway Heist, James Bennett provides vital, new, intellectual infrastructure for a timely and authoritative critique of pork barrels, potholes, and political privilege.”
—George Gilder, bestselling author, Wealth and Poverty, Life After Google, Telecosm, Knowledge and Power, and other books
“James Bennett’s indispensable book Highway Heist critically examines the corruption, waste, and runaway costs of government transportation infrastructure.... Instead of such unnecessary problems from government monopolies, Highway Heist shows the viability of private, market-based, enterprising systems in directly serving transport needs, with real accountability, innovative benefits and enormous savings.”
—Rand Paul, U.S. Senator; Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
“Whatever your views on highway construction, the remarkable and indispensable book Highway Heist will improve it.... This fascinating book could not be timelier as state Departments of Transportation throughout America, keeping social objectives in mind, start ramping up infrastructure spending with new Federal funds.”
—Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation
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