Jonathan

I just read Jay’s Nov. 25 post on this topic and you should too. The reason most people don’t take buses or trains to work is that they are rational. The time cost of public transportation is exorbitant unless your time isn’t worth much. (Never mind the financial cost, which tends to be exorbitant too, if you take into account, as you should, all of the costs and not just nominal ticket prices.)

And we aren’t even considering the valuable flexibility gained from using automobiles. It’s difficult to run an errand or visit someone on the way home from work when you’re taking the train.

UPDATE: I should have made clear that my comment about financial cost was directed at the newer mass-transit systems in places like DC, Miami and LA. The old systems in places like Chicago and New York are in a different financial category, their fixed costs having mostly been amortized. (The old systems are also probably much more useful to commuters.)

I echo Lex’s wishes.

I also wish to thank my Chicago Boyz collaborators, from whom I have learned much and without whom this blog would still be receiving ten hits a day. And I thank our readers, for the same reasons.

My goal is to make it as rewarding as possible to post to this blog as well as to read it. Please don’t hesitate to make suggestions for improvement.

Michael Van Winkle argues that Bush focuses on his own reelection at Republicans’ political peril. I agree, though there’s not much that we can do about it. Bush is currently the best that Americans have got. There is no good Republican alternative, and the Democrats are so unserious, and in such political disarray, as to be almost beneath consideration for national leadership.

(Via Randy Barnett)

Our first bash was a blast. Turnout was a bit disappointing but everyone had a good time. It was especially satisfying because some of the U.S.-based Chicago Boyz had never met each other, and none of us had met Sylvain. (And we still haven’t met Ralf, which by itself is reason enough to plan another bash. Not that we need a reason.) It’s a treat to meet people whom you know only from the Internet, and it’s a double treat when everyone hits it off. If you have a geographically diverse group blog and haven’t yet gotten together, you really should make the effort.

A nice side-effect of our meeting was that we recruited one, perhaps two, new bloggers to our conspiracy. (Of course we had to take their car keys before they would agree to consider blogging with us, but this just goes to show that there are still some kinds of business that can only be transacted face to face.)

I hope that we can do this again in the not-too-distant future. I’ve suggested Florida for the next bash, but Chicago is probably the venue of least resistance for Chicago boys and girls who have families, so it will probably be Chicago the next time as well.