- Reason Magazine, Reason.tv Announce New Editors
- lib•er•tar•ian
- McCain’s War Homework
- A Congested Economy
- Airport Solutions
- New at Reason
Reason Magazine and Reason.tv Announce New Editors
After seven years as editor-in-chief of Reason magazine, Nick Gillespie is shifting his focus to Reason’s Internet content. Gillespie will direct Reason.com and Reason.tv, which debuted in October featuring short documentaries hosted by The Price Is Right and Power of 10 host Drew Carey. Matt Welch, a former Reason editor and author of the new book McCain: The Myth of a Maverick, leaves his post as assistant editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times to take over as editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
lib•er•tar•ian
In a column for The Washington Post, Gillespie and Welch examine the “Ron Paul Revolution” and the growing influence of libertarians: “More than at any other time over the past two decades, Americans are hungering for the politics and freewheeling fun of libertarianism. And with the dreary prospect of a Giuliani vs. Clinton death match in 2008, that hunger is likely to grow even faster than the size of the federal government or the casualty toll in Iraq. Ron Paul may lose next year’s battle — though not without a memorable fight — but the laissez-faire agitators he has helped energize will find themselves at the leading edge of American politics and culture for years to come.”
» Transcript of Gillespie and Welch’s Online Chat at WashingtonPost.com Today
McCain’s War Homework
In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Welch says Sen. John McCain has “been remarkably silent and unreflective over the years” on “how and when the U.S. should decide to go to war.” Welch details his efforts to obtain McCain’s April 1974 National War College thesis to “understand how his Vietnam experience has affected his views on the unpopular war in Iraq.” After getting McCain’s paper through a Freedom of Information Act request, Welch writes, “If there is any truly contemporary echo in his War College paper, it’s that U.S. troops cannot fight to the best of their abilities if they do not personally support the policies they’re enforcing and if they do not have the support of the American people…McCain didn’t necessarily attend the National War College to assess the wisdom of Vietnam. But he did reinforce a belief system that he’s carried to the present day: If you must fight, fight to win, and keep explaining to the American people all along why the sacrifice is necessary. Come January, we’ll begin to find out whether McCain’s message is resonating.”
» Welch’s New Book – McCain: The Myth of a Maverick
A Congested Economy
In an op-ed for The New York Times, Reason Foundation’s Sam Staley writes “solutions exist for both traffic and air congestion. A crucial first step is to adopt congestion pricing in which toll rates are used to maximize travel speeds, not keep cars out of specific locations at certain times of the day. For example tolls should be highest during peak travel times but should fall during times of the day when demand for the same roadway is less. The same principle can be applied to airports. At the moment, take-off rights, landing rights and runway slots are allocated based on a ‘use it or lose it rule.’ Landing fees are based on aircraft weight, not the airline’s willingness to pay for using a certain airport. Congestion pricing would allow airlines to bid for slots based on their desire to have access to the runways of airports during busiest travel periods of the day.”
» Staley’s Book – The Road More Traveled: Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More Than You Think and What We Can do About It
Airport Solutions
The Wall Street Journal editorial page takes a look at air travel delays and concludes, “A Reason Foundation simulation with airline decision-makers confirmed that a fee increase for times of peak demand would lead airlines to reschedule as much as 15% of rush hour flights. Just as deregulation created opportunities for bargain hunters to get more from the airlines, so runway-pricing would reward some passengers for flying at off-peak. The price mechanism allocates supply in all kinds of crazy markets. Why not at airports?”
» Reason Policy Brief: Evidence That Airport Pricing Works (.pdf)
» Reason Policy Brief: Congestion Pricing at New York’s Airports (.pdf)
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