Did 'We' Decide to Build Railroads? President Obama said, in his
second inaugural address, “Together we determined that a modern
economy requires railroads.” Actually, “we” determined that “a
modern economy” requires canals, not railroads. We turned to
railroads and to a mostly market-oriented approach to developing
the country’s transportation infrastructure after the massive
failure of the initial determination. While not the first canal
in the country, the Erie Canal was the country’s first great
canal. The Erie Canal was 364 miles when opened, the second
longest canal in the world following only the Grand Canal of
China. The Erie Canal was indeed a state enterprise, the
brainchild of an ambitious and talented politician, DeWitt
Clinton. Construction of the Erie Canal was financed by debt.
And, guess what? The canal paid for itself. Toll revenue in
excess of operating cost was a little more than necessary to pay
off the bonds. Would that the story of government transportation
projects ended with the Erie C