Amtrak is a Government Failure

The bodies had barely cooled from Tuesday’s deadly Amtrak derailing when the usual sources began agitating for bigger government in response. The rush to campaign for more federal spending on infrastructure was so swift that it preceded any indication of the actual cause of the crash.

The New Yorker‘s John Cassidy finger-wagged that “it’s time to get serious about transportation infrastructure,” claiming “for decades now, the United States has been allowing its public infrastructure to decay.” Meanwhile, MSNBC breathlessly reported that “House Republicans vote to cut Amtrak funding one day after crash,” bemoaning that, “the House committee repeatedly voted down Democratic amendments aimed at boosting funding for Amtrak.”

Subsequent revelations, in an investigation that is obviously still in the early stages, that the train attempted to take a bend going more than twice the 50 mph speed limit for that section of track ought to provide these commentators some reason for pause, but is unlikely to halt the ideologically driven narrative of underfunded infrastructure.

My colleague Dan Mitchell has an axiom that he immodestly calls Mitchell’s Law. It holds that: “Bad government policy begets more bad government policy.” The truth of that statement is on display now, as opportunists take a tragic event that, if it has any policy causes at all was brought about by too much rather than too little government, and attempt to turn it into a rallying cry for more government.

First let’s dispatch with the primary charge. Specifically, that infrastructure spending is too low.

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