ISTEA: A New Direction for Transportation Policy

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)of 1991 is likely to be remembered as one of President Bush'smost significant contributions to government decentralizationand the ideals of New Federalism. It is a landmark piece oflegislation that makes wholesale revisions in the federal government'srole in transportation policy, providing state and, especially,local policymakers with an unprecedented opportunity to determinethe future direction of the nation's surface transportationprograms. However, at the same time it decentralized authorityover project selection, it continued to expandthe number ofcrossover sanctions attached to federal transportation fundingand preempted state authority over truck weights and lengths.This underscores recent research findings that suggest thatfederalism principles are important to federal policymakersbut not necessarily more important than other competing valuesthat emanate from different political, social, and economicviews.     

State and Local Government Officials' Perspectives on Intergovernmental Relationships in Surface Transportation Policy: 1987 and 2001

This article reports results of nationwide surveys of stateand local government officials conducted in 2000/2001 concerningtheir perspectives on intergovernmental relationships in surfacetransportation. It then compares the survey results with theresults from a 1987 survey on the same topic that was conductedby the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.Although there was some variation among the categories of stateand local government officials surveyed, overall, both stateand local government officials report that they are relativelysatisfied with intergovernmental relationships in surface transportationand that those relationships have generally improved since 1987.     

TEA-21: Transportation Policy, Pork Barrel Politics, and American Federalism

This article examines ISTEA's impact on intergovernmental relationsin transportation policy over the past six years and providesan overview of the political maneuvering that took place duringits reauthorization. ISTEA had a significant, decentralizingimpact on transportation policy, but its 1997–1998 reauthorizationwas driven by electoral concerns that transcended congressionalviews on American federalism. These electoral concerns helpto explain why ISTEA's reauthorization process took so long,why the decentralization in transportation policy that tookplace in 1991 was not broadened by TEA-21, and why it is unlikelythat transportation policy will ever be fully devolved to thestates and localities.     

Forced to make mistakes: Reasons for complaining about Bebchuk's scheme and other market-oriented insolvency procedures

Bebchuk's proposal for bankruptcy reform is analysed, in particular his claim that using options is fair and prevents justified complains. However, the proposal has a systematic bias against junior creditors and former shareholders because they have to pay for unavoidable mistakes in estimating the company's value, may lack the financial resources to exercise their options and lose by a day of reckoning. A market solution will be specified that is simpler and at least as fair as Bebchuk's scheme according to his own standards. However, a complete solution to these problems may have to be a non-market one. JEL Classification G33 · K39 · K22