This gets 9 points from me. I think it’s the first I had heard of the Jones Act, and the post’s anti-Jones-Act stance is now one that I am proud to still hold. It’s so distortionary that shipping between US ports is more than twice the cost of equivalent international ports, and for very dubious strategic benefit. Imagine if the law were instead that 50% of the volume of all ships between US ports must be filled with rubber ducks. The Jones act is actually WORSE than this in many respects because not only does it >double the price, it removes flexibility from supply chains and surge capacity during disasters.
The post also touches on how special interest groups control American politics beyond just “big oil” etc., all the ways a market economy should make its citizens’ lives better and how many of them go through shipping, and the failure of American shipbuilding [1]. It predates Abundance, which was 4 months later in March 2025, and is certainly an abundance idea.
As for downsides, it’s somewhat long-winded and I’m a bit skeptical that repeal is actually feasible (some of the commenters point out the large number of people who would actually need to be compensated, and I don’t think a government at our current competence level could do this).
[1] This last topic is getting more relevant, as the US Navy recently canceled the Constellation program, which marks its third straight failed frigate program.
This gets 9 points from me. I think it’s the first I had heard of the Jones Act, and the post’s anti-Jones-Act stance is now one that I am proud to still hold. It’s so distortionary that shipping between US ports is more than twice the cost of equivalent international ports, and for very dubious strategic benefit. Imagine if the law were instead that 50% of the volume of all ships between US ports must be filled with rubber ducks. The Jones act is actually WORSE than this in many respects because not only does it >double the price, it removes flexibility from supply chains and surge capacity during disasters.
The post also touches on how special interest groups control American politics beyond just “big oil” etc., all the ways a market economy should make its citizens’ lives better and how many of them go through shipping, and the failure of American shipbuilding [1]. It predates Abundance, which was 4 months later in March 2025, and is certainly an abundance idea.
As for downsides, it’s somewhat long-winded and I’m a bit skeptical that repeal is actually feasible (some of the commenters point out the large number of people who would actually need to be compensated, and I don’t think a government at our current competence level could do this).
[1] This last topic is getting more relevant, as the US Navy recently canceled the Constellation program, which marks its third straight failed frigate program.