Paul Krugman: A Better Road, By Rail

A new paper on the Vox Web site by the European economists Rafael Lalive, Simon Luechinger and Armin Schmutzler on the effects of increased rail service makes clever use of natural experiments created by changes in German ownership and regulation. The results aren't that surprising — more frequent rail service sharply reduces pollution and other costs associated with driving — but it's good to have this kind of solid work to back our intuitions.