Tag Archives: policy

When should public transportation systems be private?

Posted on July 10, 2008 by kfarr

A recent episode of Russ Roberts’ EconTalk podcast featured a wonderful intersection of interests: economics, public policy and public transit. One of Russ’ academia friends, economist Michael Munger, speaks at length on the program about the public transportation system quality … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, politics, transit | Tagged brt, city, econ, economics, econtalk, effectiveness, geary, macro, micro, mike, munger, muni, planning, policy, project, public, roberts, russ, russ roberts, san francisco, sf, talk, transit, transportation | 3 Comments

“Energy independence” is silly. We must use less energy regardless of its source.

Posted on March 21, 2008 by kfarr

My unwavering allegiance to the American Public Media radio program Marketplace was made ever tighter by a clear and compelling opinion piece by Jerry Taylor of the Cato Institute. The piece is written so concisely I can do no better … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, media, politics | Tagged bush, clinton, cost, econ, economics, energy, energy independence, gas, gasoline, goods, hillary, independence, macro, market, micro, obama, oil, policy, prices, services | 6 Comments

Fire destroys low-income resident’s apartment. Archaic rent control forces her to leave City.

Posted on March 19, 2008 by kfarr

The Chronicle has a touching and well-written article about the aftermath of the Mission District fire that completely destroyed a 30-unit apartment building Monday evening. Central to the article is the story of Griselda Paleo. Ms. Paleo is 59 and … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, happiness, politics | Tagged affordable, ceiling, city, control, demand, econ, economics, housing, macro, market, micro, new york, new york city, nyc, policy, price, price ceiling, price control, regulation, rent, rent control, rental, san francisco, sf, subsidies, supply, unit | Leave a comment

Why is Congress wasting its time (aka our money) with baseball players?

Posted on February 14, 2008 by kfarr

I’ll admit right up front: I’m not sure what Congress actually does at their meetings in Washington. But, what I glean from an ear half-tuned to NPR is that it’s usually a discussion on legislation germane to American citizen’s lives … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, media, politics | Tagged baseball, congress, corporation, economics, elected, election, house, league, major, mlb, official, policy, politics, public, public policy, representatives, senate, senator | 1 Comment

MSFT eating YHOO is about display ads, not search.

Posted on February 4, 2008 by kfarr

Okay, we all know the big news: Microsoft wants Yahoo. In fact, it has been the only topic visible ‘above the fold’ of The New York Times’ tech page for the past few days. Michael Krasny whipped out a KQED … Continue reading →

Posted in internets, marketing, media, tech | Tagged acquire, acquisition, ad, advertisement, agencies, antitrust, banner, business, buy, display, equity, goog, google, government, media, merger, microsoft, msft, offer, policy, purchase, regulation, shares, stock, tech, yahoo, yhoo | 2 Comments

The City needs congestion pricing.

Posted on January 13, 2008 by kfarr

(Photo Credit) On a recent episode of KQED’s Forum, Dave Iverson discusses the possibility of congestion pricing in the City with two main guests: Ken Cleaveland, director of government and public affairs with the Building Owners and Managers Association and … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, politics, transit | Tagged california, cars, congestion, congestion fee, econ, economics, fee, hot lanes, lane, motor vehicles, muni, peak, policy, price, pricing, public, public policy, public transit, roadway, roadways, san francisco, sf, tax, taxes, transit, transportation, usage, usage fee, use, user fee, variable, variable pricing, vehicles | 2 Comments

KQED Perspective: Peak Medallions

Posted on January 8, 2008 by kfarr

I condensed my usual rant about peak medallions down to a 2 minute piece for a KQED‘s Perspective. It’s a quick op-ed that airs during the morning drive time. It will air again on Saturday morning. It sounds a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in media, politics, taxi | Tagged cab, find, hail, kqed, local, local policy, medallions, op-ed, opinion, peak, perspective, perspectives, policy, politics, regulation, san francisco, sf, supply, taxi, taxicab, variability, variable supply | 13 Comments

Muni’s incompetent management structure injures more people.

Posted on December 19, 2007 by kfarr

The Examiner reports a Muni bus hit a pedestrian Monday evening bringing the total number of “pedestrian incidents” to 20 since the start of Muni’s fiscal year on July 1. 20 incidents? Why so many? Is this excessive? Yes. Is … Continue reading →

Posted in transit | Tagged bus, hit, incident, injury, management, muni, pedestrian, policy, san francisco, sf, strike, struck, structure, system | 7 Comments

Ridiculous sums of federal capital money encourage foolish transit projects.

Posted on October 26, 2007 by kfarr

Inflated federal funding for the capital costs of transit projects brings about wasted spending, poor planning and poor service for transit riders in the United States.

Posted in econ, politics, transit | Tagged capital costs, econ, economics, funding, planning, policy, poor government incentives, public policy, transit, transportation | 1 Comment

There’s no free parking.

Posted on October 20, 2007 by kfarr

This excellent article in Slate discusses the hidden costs of parking. I won’t attempt to summarize, it’s worth reading in its entirety. Link It got me thinking about the cost of parking in the City, especially residential parking permits. Is … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, transit | Tagged congestion, demand, econ, economics, idiocy, local, parking, parking pricing, policy, public policy, regulation, supply | 4 Comments