Showing papers in "The Economic Journal in 1957"

Studies in the Economics of Transportation

Abstract: THE CAPABILITIES AND EFFICIENT OPERATION OF SEVERAL TYPES OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ARE STUDIED. FOR HIGHWAY TRAFFIC THE MAIN EMPHASIS IS ON CONGESTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. QUEUING MODELS ARE USED TO DETERMINE FLUCTUATIONS IN WAITING TIME FOR TWO CASES, THE FLOW OF CARS THROUGH AN INTERSECTION AND THE PASSING OF SLOWER CARS BY FASTER CARS ON A TWO-LANE HIGHWAY. THE RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES ARE INCORPORATED INTO A NON-LINEAR MODEL OF HIGHWAY TRAFFIC BEHAVIOR ON A ROAD NETWORK. THE CAPACITIES ARE EXPRESSED BY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAFFIC FLOWS ON ALL ROUTES AND THE COSTS ENCOUNTERED ON EACH AS A RESULT OF THESE FLOWS. HIGHWAY TRAFFIC DEMANDS ARE THE RESULT OF A GREAT MANY INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS ABOUT DESTINATION, ROUTES, AND PREFERRED SPEEDS. THE ANALOGY BETWEEN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC EQUILIBRIUM AND THE MARKET RESPONSE MODELS USED BY ECONOMISTS IS GIVEN. IF THE INDIVIDUALLY INCURRED COST OF TRANSPORTATION IS REGARDED AS THE "PRICE" IN THE TRANSPORTATION "MARKET," THE ECONOMIST'S DEMAND CURVE BECOMES APPLICABLE. FOR A SINGLE ROAD IT GIVES THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC DEMANDED FOR ANY GIVEN COST ENCOUNTERED ON THAT ROAD. GENERALLY, THE HIGHER THE COST, THE SMALLER THE FLOW. CONSIDERING A ROAD NETWORK THE DEMAND FUNCTION GIVES THE FLOWS ON EACH ROUTE IN RESPONSE TO A SET OF TRANSPORTATION COSTS ALONG THESE ROUTES. EQUILIBRIUM EXISTS IF THE FLOWS ON ALL ROADS RESULTING FROM THESE COSTS ARE THE SAME AS THE FLOWS THAT PRODUCE THESE SAME COSTS. THIS CONCEPT IS APPLIED TO A STUDY OF TRAFFIC EQUILIBRIUM AND USE OF THE ANALYSIS IN THE PREDICTION OF TRAFFIC FLOWS IS DISCUSSED. THE ANALYSIS OF DEMAND AND OF EQUILIBRIUM RECOGNIZES THAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE IS PART OF THE SERVICE RENDERED BY THE ROAD NETWORK. TOLLS FROM THE USERS OF CONGESTED ROADS AT RATES THAT WOULD MEASURE THE COST TO OTHERS CAUSED BY THE AVERAGE ROAD USER WOULD ENCOURAGE BETTER USE OF THE HIGHWAY SYSTEM. THERE ARE OBSERVATIONS ON HOW CLOSELY MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY CAN BE APPROACHED BY PROPER CHOICE OF RATES ON PRESENT TOLL ROADS AND BY OTHER WAYS OF PENALIZING ADDITIONS TO TRAFFIC CONGESTION. BECAUSE OF THE NONLINEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USE AND COST, SUCH PRICING DOES NOT NECESSARILY PRODUCE REVENUES EQUAL TO THE TOTAL COST OF OPERATING AND FINANCING THE INDIVIDUAL FACILITY. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF CRITERIA FOR EXTENSIONS OR IMPROVEMENTS OF THE NETWORK TO RELIEVE CONGESTION ARE GIVEN. /AUTHOR/

The Future of Socialism.

Abstract: In the blood of the socialist, Anthony Crosland argued, 'there should always run a trace of the anarchist and the libertarian, and not too much of the prig and the prude.' His classic manifesto, The Future of Socialism, first appeared when its author was thirty-eight years old. Asa Briggs described it in the Observer as 'a fascinating an original survey of contemporary British society which will appeal to a far wider circle of readers than confirmed Socialist.' More than twenty years on, the brilliance, urgency, humanity and eloquence of Crosland's message are not diminished: Croslandism, as it now is know, remains the aim of democratic socialists in many countries besides Britain. Crosland's philosophy stemmed from his feelings for man as an individual - passionate feelings for equality matched by respect for personal liberty. He combined the intellectual and the politician in a way that was perhaps unique in this century. Irreverence and humour add to the penetration and width of his argument. 'Total abstinence and a good filing-system are not now the right sign-posts to the socialist Utopia,' Crosland once said; 'or at least, if they are, some of us will fall by the wayside.' Shortly after Crosland died, Michael Young wrote in Encounter: 'His voice carried conviction because it was the voice of someone thinking out his position for himself.' It is a measure of the book that John Strachey's directive in the New Statesman is as true and relevant today as ever it was. 'No-one must in future take part in the controversy on Socialism without having read it.'