Australia former deputy PM promotes HSR

[bikkuri bahn]

It was this economic rationalism - this dogma that insists every government investment be revenue neutral or turn a profit, no matter what its broader social, economic, safety or environmental value - that Fischer believes has influenced all governments - state and federal, Coalition and Labor - for at least 20 years, ignoring the real costs of road and air transport.

 

I call this manner of thinking the "Anglo disease"- a rigid, unrealistic and hypocritical ideological stance all too common in English-speaking countries.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/model-of-a-modern-trainspotter-20110806-1ig54.html

[disturbman]

Ok... I had written long text until I realized you were in fact considering the bias toward road and air transport against rail as the "Anglo disease" and not economic rationalism.

 

I couldn't agree more but if you look carefully, it's not really an English-speaking country "disease" but more of a frontier, ex-colonial country "disease". It's an "empty" world phenomenon. And it's mostly present in countries that had plenty of land and a history recent enough to fell into the car-trap to generate a major suburban society. This was of course mixed with the English tropism against governments and for the all powerful market. And this has been made even worse by the Cold War and its outcome. It also seems that the country where this tropism against rail is the strongest is the one with the most profound attraction toward liberty and maybe the deepest social and racial inequalities, the USA.

 

But even then, reading the news and blogs society there seems to be shifting away even if Australia and Canada (I don't know about New Zealand) seems ahead in this move.

 

I also wonder what is the state of infrastructure in notoriously poorer countries with a deeper socialistic history. Here the interesting comparison should be Brazil.

[linkey]

Gotta love Tim Fisher for the thought of it, but why didn't he push this when he was Deputy P.M?

[westfalen]

Gotta love Tim Fisher for the thought of it, but why didn't he push this when he was Deputy P.M?

I was thinking the same thing, for a few years there was second in charge but politicians have a great sense of hindsight.

[linkey]

Gotta love Tim Fisher for the thought of it, but why didn't he push this when he was Deputy P.M?

I was thinking the same thing, for a few years there was second in charge but politicians have a great sense of hindsight.

 

Oh so true.