Economist Bruce Benson provides a fascinating introduction to the possibilities of private roads; a far superior alternative to the road system created and managed by government today. Private roads would reduce traffic congestion, provide new road alternatives (more competition = better services and cheaper goods), and it would certainly increase the convenience of road travel. Remember that government did not originally create roads; as Benson mentions, there was a wide array of private roads in the U.S. before the government took them over and monopolized the management of roads. A private road system would be incredibly beneficial to society, but any serious movement to re-privatize roads would probably be met with considerable opposition from legislators who exploit roads as pork project targets in their districts.

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