When you ride alone you ride with Bin Ladin

[Imran Siddiqui]

But will you be able to go to the beach if you live an hour away, if you don't have access to oil based transportation. Chances are you'd never be in that town even if you lived half an hour away without some oil based transport.

[DuncanK]

Your town may get a benefit from tourism, but just by buying gas you wont get the benefit. Something else has to motivate me to go to your town. And furthermore, the benefit is not a social benefit, because by me spending the money in your town my town suffers. The benefit is only for your town.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Exactly! The benefit to my town is all that matters to me, because that benefits me.

By buying gas, everyone in my town (and in the country), spurs creation of highways. The highways make it more attractive to come to my town (which is off the highway).

[DuncanK]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Exactly! The benefit to my town is all that matters to me, because that benefits me.

By buying gas, everyone in my town (and in the country), spurs creation of highways. The highways make it more attractive to come to my town (which is off the highway).

I don't argue about the highways being a social benefit, but how does buying gas create highways? Highways are subsidized. I think that in some states there is tax on gas that pays for new highways, but besides that gas sales doesn't create highways.

And about me driving to your town. If that benefits your town, then maybe your town should consider sibsidizing my gas. But but there is no reason for the federal government to do so.