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[quote user="John WR"] If, as you say, private businesses do not receive subsidies to cover annual losses, Sam, perhaps the reason is that the subsidies are paid earlier which allows the businesses to show profits.  At least the Cato Institute thinks so.  Cato argues the Federal Government in 2001 subsidized businesses with $93 billion.  And that is typical.  Here is a link to a long list of Cato reports:   http://www.cato.org/search_results.php?q=subsidized+businesses&btnG.x=-581&btnG.y=-11&btnG=Search&site=cato_all&client=cato-org&filter=p&lr=lang_en&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=cato-org&proxyreload=1&getfields=summary [/quote] I was pushing back on the argument that all businesses are subsidized. I also noted that in select instances businesses receive tax advantages that do not flow to other businesses and could be classified as a subsidy.  Moreover, as I noted in another post, one can argue that barge lines receive a subsidy in that the marine diesel taxes that they pay do not provide sufficient funds to cover the cost of maintaining the inland waterways locks. This would be a valid argument if one assumes that the dams that blocked navigation of the inland waterways were constructed purely for the benefit of the barge operators. That would be a difficult argument to support.  Frankly, if you find the Cato argument persuasive, please summarize it. If you cannot do that, don't expect me to chase it. Moreover, $93 billion in an economy of more than $15.1 trillion is hardly what one schooled in economics would call significant. Assuming the number is valid, it would be 62/100s of one per cent of GDP, which represents the value of the goods and services produced by commerce in the United States.  Whoops, I overlooked the date.  The year for your figures is 2001, which is my math is correct is 11 years ago.  Makes for pretty stale data. Now to the main point. What does this have to do with passenger trains?  Or Amtrak? Its time to get back to focusing on Amtrak, since it is and is likely to remain the U.S. intercity passenger train operator.
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