After the Sept. 11 Attacks

A chance for smaller government?

James K. Glassman | November 28, 2001

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A well-run private service could serve constituents, too - and probably better. Again, there is a simple solution, laid out in Derailed, an excellent book by Joseph Vranich, former director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Following a model used in Britain, Japan and other countries, the government should auction off selected routes to the private firms that require the smallest subsidies. Other routes should be shut down. The Northeast Corridor should be a goldmine, but Amtrak can't make it pay.

Ending subsidized mail and rail government monopolies fits well with new public attitudes since the attacks. Americans, now more serious, have less patience for programs that don't work. When the pundits talk about a return to big government, what they really mean is a return to more government spending on national security. That's nothing new. It goes back to Hobbes and Locke: government's first and most important job is national defense and domestic safety.

Increased spending on antidotes to bioterrorism, the creation of a new Office of Homeland Security, federalizing airport security guards, emergency funds for New York, even providing grants and loans to the airline industry (and not, say, to the hotel industry) - all of these steps were taken to improve security of Americans in a time of danger.

The Sept. 11 attacks put pressure on our institutions. Some, including the White House and the military, have risen to the challenge. Others have not. A Gallup Poll, taken Nov. 8 to 11, found that 89 percent of those surveyed approved of President Bush's performance in the crisis, and only 8 percent disapproved. But for the news media, only 43 percent approved and 54 disapproved.

There's not much that can be done about the media, but it's unlikely Americans will tolerate the continuing poor performance of the postal service and passenger rail. Both need free-market therapy, and this is the time to provide it.