Thursday, September 30, 2010

Frederic Bastiat violation!! Attention Broken Window Fallacy fans!!

Destroying perfectly good signs for no good reason. Ok, they cite a reason, but really, is it a good one??...I guess it will "stimulate" the economy by providing jobs for the sign makers, and the crews who will take down and then install the new signs...
""NY Daily News -- New York City will change the lettering on every single street sign - at an estimated cost of about $27.5 million - because the feds don't like the font. Street names will change from all capital letters to a combination of upper and lower case on roads across the country thanks to the pricey federal regulation (see photo above).  By 2018, MADISON AVE. will become Madison Ave. and will be printed in a font called Clearview, the city Department of Transportation says. The Federal Highway Administration says the switch will improve safety because drivers identify the words more quickly when they're displayed that way - and can sooner return their eyes to the road." (Source Carpe Diem)
Perhaps the authorities should  read a little ditty called "The Broken Window" by Frederic Bastiat...
""Now, if James Goodfellow is part of society, we must conclude that society, considering its labors and its enjoyments, has lost the value of the broken window. From which, by generalizing, we arrive at this unexpected conclusion: "Society loses the value of objects unnecessarily destroyed," and at this aphorism, which will make the hair of the protectionists stand on end: "To break, to destroy, to dissipate is not to encourage national employment," or more briefly: "Destruction is not profitable."""

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