Which was worth more, the government funding of the interstate project, or the almost unchecked power and monopoly of the robber barons of the Gilded Age?
It would be foolish for me to attempt to quantify what worth "more"; however, it is worth keeping in mind that the railroads we're very heavily subsidized in their time as well.
http://archive.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/06/05/colla...
https://mises.org/library/crony-capitalism-and-transcontinen...