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Why capitalism can't be allowed to set policy. [1]
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Date: 2022-07-03
Saw this posted elsewhere and it made me think of Congress and “job creator” thinking:
A banker explained to an economist the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order effects of Bikes vs Cars.
“The cyclist is a disaster for the country’s economy, we need more drivers, not bikers.
The cyclist doesn’t buy cars with cash and she doesn’t borrow money to buy them. She doesn’t even need to purchase a car insurance policy.
She doesn’t buy fuel, she doesn’t have to pay to get the car serviced, and she has no need for repairs to her vehicle.
She doesn't use paid parking in the city. She causes no major accidents. And she creates no need for multi-lane highways.
Also, she is getting healthier, she is not getting overweight, she sleeps better, and her cardiovascular health improves dramatically.
This is bad because healthy people are less useful to the economy… they do not buy as much fast food, or as much medicine, or go to hospital as frequently.
Simply put, healthy people on bikes add less to the country's GDP.
On the contrary, when we build our lives, create our cities, and push our policies to be structured around cars we create a cascading increase in GDP. This is good for the economy.
Cars require gas, they must be insured, they create traffic which helps us push for convenience items like fast food. Those are just the first order effects.
Each fast food store then creates an additional 30 jobs including cooks, cashiers, and suppliers. The creation of these fast food stores causes even more people to drive. This is good for the economy and those are just the second order effects.
Because our fast food locations have created even more unhealthy people and pollution caused by drivers, now we need cardiologists, dentists, dietitians, and primary care physicians to help the people in our community improve the quality of their life and get healthy.
These improvements require purchasing health insurance, manufacturing dental supplies, and building fitness centers, spurring huge GDP growth. These third order effects are good, they cause our economy to boom.
So remember, when you’re promoting economic policies, building infrastructure, and working to stimulate GDP choose wisely: a bike or car?
~ John the Banker
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