WAITING IN MEMPHIS
(Posted 2005-09-15 19:48:28 by Ray Lopez)

In light of the bankruptcy announcements from Delta and Northwest, it makes
sense that I am stuck at the airport right now, waiting for my American
Eagle flight out of Memphis which has been delayed for over 2 hours.  It
all just illustrates what a complete mess our air transportation system is.

So let's see:  Our air transportation system is de-regulated and so far the
"free market" has managed to give us a miserable system that supports
gigantic money-losing companies, very bad service, and too much capacity. 
Our health care system is based heavily on insurance companies and the
"free market" has given us an overpriced system that is treacherous to
navigate and can't be used by a large percentage of our population.

Free markets are good for many, many things.  They are the engines of a
free democracy.  But they're not good for providing everything.  Sometimes
you need the heavy hand of government regulation to make things work the
best way for the most people.

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