As of this year, it costs $9 if you want to drive your car into lower Manhattan. The measure was (and still is) unpopular, but something had to be done. And obviously, with most such interventions, you accept that some things will get worse to tackle a pressing problem. It’s a game of trade-offs. Or is it? A few months in, the data shows: less traffic, faster travel, fewer accidents, fewer delayed school buses, less noise, more visitors. Maybe it’s just a great idea to have people pay for the negative externalities they cause – and they will cause less of them.

From Weekly Filet #529, in May 2025.