Meet the Anti-Planner

by Bill Steigerwald - November 6th, 2007 - Townhall.com

It is safe to say economist Randal O'Toole is an expert in many of the things that have caused Pittsburgh and other cities great pain -- government planning, government mass-transit systems and government attempts to shape or contain the redevelopment of cities. A senior fellow at the Cato Institute, he specializes in urban growth, public land and transportation issues. His daily blog is called The Antiplanner (ti.org/antiplanner) and his new book is "The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future."

Government planning is based on the premise that bureacrats understand more about society and the future than those who are in the private sector. It is an assumption of arrogance and demands the power to tell people how to live. It is always a disaster in the long run. Even if some benefits are obtained in the short run, giving this much power to bureaucrats will lead to abuse at some point in time. It is a predictable as the tides.