The Great Jones Act Debate - Odd Lots

[SouthBayDem]

Mar 20, 2025 Odd Lots
We finally did it. We finally did an episode on the Jones Act. For years on the podcast, we've been referencing this controversial law from 1920, which places restrictions on domestic port-to-port transport in the United States. But we had never actually done an episode on what it is, why it was created, and why people feel so fervently about either keeping or maintaining it. There are plenty of people who feel that this law is an inhibitor of US growth, because domestic water-based shipment of goods requires a US-flagged, US-crewed, and US-built vessel. And yet the law persists — for over a century now. At our live show in Washington DC, we spoked with the Cato Institute's Colin Grabow (who took the anti side) and the Transportation Institute's Sara Fuentes (who took the pro side). They explained their respective positions on questions of the economics and national security in a lively, heated (but polite) debate.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Thanks so much for posting!

[msongs]

2. drives up the cost of living in hawaii. one simple change would help...

it requires use of only ships made in the usa. well the usa has a reduced ship building capacity and high prices on those built. buying foreign made ships would drastically lower the cost of shipping even if the other provisions of the act were maintained as is.