Repeal the Wright Amendment NOW
My latest NYT column was inspired by personal events (recounted in the lead) but turned out to be extremely newsy:
When I asked my editor whether I could be reimbursed for my travel to the American Economic Association meetings this year in Philadelphia, he agreed, with a caveat.
"Please try to get the cheapest air fare you can," he wrote in an e-mail message. "Southwest flies Dallas-Philly doesn't it?"
Well, no. It doesn't, even though both the company and its passengers wish it did.
Southwest is based at Love Field, not far from downtown Dallas. But it cannot fly from Dallas to Philadelphia - or Chicago or Las Vegas or Los Angeles or Baltimore-Washington or a host of other popular destinations - without violating federal law.
Like my editor, most people outside Dallas have no idea of this peculiar restriction. The so-called Wright Amendment, named for the longtime congressman from Fort Worth, Jim Wright, was intended to protect the newly built Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. What it did was limit not the amount of traffic at Love Field (local rules take care of that) but where the airplanes could fly. It is a costly example of protectionist legislation.
In mid-November, Southwest called for the repeal of the law, reversing its longtime "passionately neutral" stance and igniting a heated local debate.
Read the rest here and lots of Dallas Morning News reports here.
The Wright Amendment offers an excellent test of Texas politicians, including the Bushies: Are they just crony capitalists? Or are they pro-market, pro-growth, and pro-consumer? For the past 25 years, the consistent answer has been "crony capitalists," more interested in protecting DFW Airport and American Airlines than in letting market competition serve the public (including a lot of Dallas businesses). A few politicians, including Rep. Pete Sessions, have come out for repeal. But, astoundingly, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller is defending the federal law that puts her own city at a competitive disadvantage. Or maybe it's not so astounding. It's Texas politics as usual.