Kindle
$2.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$39.95
Paperback
$14.50
Kindle Price: $2.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Walter Block
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Privatization of Roads and Highways: Human and Economic Factors (LvMI) Kindle Edition

by Walter Block (Author), Brad Edmunds (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 40 ratings
See all formats and editions
The Mises Institute is pleased to introduce Walter Block's remarkable new treatise on private roads, a 494-page book that will cause you to rethink the whole of the way modern transportation networks operate. It is bold, innovative, radical, compelling, and shows how free-market economic theory is the clarifying lens through which to see the failures of the state and the alternative that is consistent with human liberty.

He shows that even the worst, off-the-cuff scenario of life under private ownership of roads would be fantastic by comparison to the existing reality of government ownership of roads, which is awful in ways we don't entirely realize until Block fully explains it (think highway deaths).

But that is only the beginning of what Professor Block has done. He has made a lengthy, detailed, and positive case that the privatization of roads would be socially optimal in every way. It would save lives, curtail pollution, save us (as individuals!) money, save us massive time, introduce accountability, and make transportation a pleasure instead of a huge pain in the neck.

Because this is the first-ever complete book on this topic, the length and detail are absolutely necessary. He shows that this is not some libertarian pipe dream but the most practical application of free-market logic. Block is dealing with something that confronts us every day. And in so doing, he illustrates the power of economic theory to take an existing set of facts and help see them in a completely different way.

What's also nice is that the prose has great passion about it, despite its scholarly detail. Block loves answering the objections — Aren't roads public goods? Aren't roads too expensive to build privately? — and making the case, fully aware that he has to overcome a deep and persistent bias in favor of public ownership. The writer burns with a moral passion on the subjects of highway deaths and pollution issues. His "Open Letter to Mothers Against Drunk Driving" is a thrill to read!

To search for Mises Institute titles, enter a keyword and LvMI (short for Ludwig von Mises Institute); e.g., Depression LvMI
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    475 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    September 14, 2011
  5. File size
    1445 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
Next page
Hard Rock apparel
Outerwear, tees, and accessories. Discover the rock shop.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005NCLQXA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ludwig von Mises Institute (September 14, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 14, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1445 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 475 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Walter Block

Walter Block

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
40 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Midnight
5.0 out of 5 stars Privatization of Roads & Highways
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2010
Verified Purchase
In a world where road costs are paid for by citizens and controlled by a government unaccountable to those citizens, then the idea of privatizing the roadways makes sense. In today's world the private industry already builds and maintains our roads but under the direction of a bureaucratic organization that wastes more money than it employs to actually care for the roads. Since when has a politician ever been a road designer & engineer? Even if they were engineers it is probably safe to say the small wages paid to government workers does not draw first in class engineers. It's as if we have cut out the middle man by privatizing the repair and building of the highways but tied the private sector up so they cannot operate efficiently. In the end we pay for the inefficient. In this book it is laid out how we can effectively get the roads fixed and save money in the long run. It offers novel ways to meet these ends that will reduce costs and eliminate waste by removing the bureaucrats. It will also reduce costs by reducing government. Our roads would be our own and not up for sale to foreign interests as a commodity as so many tollways have recently been marketed.

Taking control of our roadways removes so many monetary obstacles thrown in our way but bureaucrats haggling over what fund they can rob to pay Paul or themselves. There are many good and functional ideas presented in this book to take back our roadways and make them safer, more economical and useful in the future.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
PBY
5.0 out of 5 stars Almost 40,000 deaths per year on our public roads and no one ever asks if there is a better way.
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2015
Verified Purchase
Walter Block is the standard bearer for the true libertarian movement. It's such a wonderful response to those people who still believe government is necessary. The patented response when libertarians say that we don't need government is for someone to ask 'well who will build the roads.' This book is the perfect response. Although it is about roads, a little bit of thinking along the same lines and you will clearly see how the world would function so much better without power hungry psychotics in charge.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
D. Cole
5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2015
Verified Purchase
I always love Mr. Blocks writing, and this book is no exception. The Argument of "Who will build the flat surfaces to drive on if not for government" is officially answered as far as I am concerned. Technically it has been for quite some time, but this just fills in some lesser known pieces. The statist authoritarians don't have a single leg to stand on at this point.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Roberto F. Chiocca
5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom is the best solution!
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2009
Verified Purchase
In this great book Walter Block show that in any circunstances freedom is always the best solution for every conflict that can possibly occur beteween individuals. Roads and streets, and every single piece of land should be private, no land should belong to "us all" or even worse, to the State.
Read this book and you will understand what I am saying.
12 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Dick Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Great content, poor binding
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2006
Verified Purchase
This book, as with Walter Block's other works, is incisive, compelling, and very readable. Unfortunately, Edwin Mellen Press has typeset, printed, and bound the book in a slipshod manner which can only be described as appalling. Many readers have run into expensive volumes published by academic publishers, but this one takes the cake:

-the cloth used for the hardcover on this new book (2006) already looks old and weather-beaten

-my copy literally had a curved spine with the cloth improperly attached (immediately visible to any bibliophile or even non-bibliophile)

-the images on the front and back cover are distorted/pixelated

-the images on the front of the book look to be taken from an early-nineties clip art collection

-the actual innards of the book are of low-quality paper

-the MS Word-esque layout and formatting of the text reminds one of early print-on-demand books, with text that is too small and with too much spacing

This book is chock-full of amazing, fascinating content, but brace yourself for disappointment at the shoddy job by the printer/bindery on this book that is going for over $100 as I write this. I recommend this book to those interested in the subject matter, but others may want to spend their time praying for a second edition whose binding quality matches the quality of the content within.
12 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Keith Wiggans
5.0 out of 5 stars Wealth of knowledge
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book contains so many arguments for the privatization of roadways. But the true value is Block goes through most, if not all objections to privatization and defeats them.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
jordanrh0918
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but very political
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2009
Block makes some very interesting and compelling arguments for the privatization of transportation, specifically roadway networks. As far as I can tell, he is one of the few (only?) who has made the direct jump from describing transportation in economic terms to so clearly advocating such an effective remedy.

Unfortunately Block argues that roadway privatization is the only moral and reasonable way to address our transportation woes, and if another, but less market driven means is available that could be as or more effective at ameliorating transportation congestion, it should be rejected on philosophical grounds. In doing this, Block is uncompromising, which is unfortunate since his purist views on the subject seem to exclude anyone with even a small difference in view.

Overall, this is an interesting read on transportation privatization if you don't mind sifting through all of the political ideology and can forgive a few errors in engineering (and possibly economic) judgment in favor of paying due attention to a good idea.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jason
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book - Read and Expand your Mind
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2013
Verified Purchase
Don't be a Road Socialist - read this book and learn the power of free markets! Walter Block is a legend and all of his books destroy the theory of Socialism.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

João F. R. Lanza
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and pertinent book about transportation
Reviewed in Brazil on February 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
Walter Block presents us in this awesome book how road, as most state owned "public" services, were once provided by the free market and after incorporated by governments, became something seen as "impossible" to exist without state interference. Also, a very important question about the competitivety of transport - specially rail transport - lies in its unfair competition with road transport, that counts on "free" infrastructure while railways have to build their own tracks and pay profit for themselves (nothing wrong with that, as every business must earn a healthy return on its investments). When governments started building roads, railways lost most of their market share, freight and passengers because trucks, cars and buses were given "free" infrastructure and therefore subsidized as roads were free of the profitability concern. Furthermore, in some countries such as the U.S. the roads network was specifically built to destroy the supposed "market power" of railways. Therefore, the privatization of roads is essencial for the recovery of the importance railways once had as in the 19th century up to WW2.
Report
Austin del Rio
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!
Reviewed in Canada on February 6, 2017
Verified Purchase
Incredible book. Revolutionary and a must read. Thought provoking and mind blowing read. I have been convinced of the efficacy of free markets in roads.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report