Topic: Regulation

In Defense of “Junk” Fees

– February 18, 2023

“The incremental fees associated with the great plethora of goods and services at our fingertips are an essential prerequisite to satisfying consumer demand. Their abolishment, whether by prohibition or concealment via aggregation, will prove consequential.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Economic Education, Free Trade, Government, Regulation

Biden’s “Buy American” Scheme a Bad Deal for America

– February 17, 2023

“Paying more to produce goods domestically that could be acquired cheaper from elsewhere, wastes resources, kills jobs in other industries, and makes us poorer as a result.” ~ Brian Balfour

Energy, Government, Regulation

The “New Study Finds” Approach to Overregulation

– February 13, 2023

“The distinction between correlation and causation is not important to those who want to expand governmental power. An aggressive bureaucracy needs only an affectation of justification for a regulation or ban already in the works.” ~ Jon Sanders

Free Markets, Regulation, Technology

The Case for User Accountability and Keeping Section 230

– February 10, 2023

“It is in the best interest of any platform or search engine to flag, block, or report that which does not adhere to its terms of service, especially when illegal activity is discovered. And it is in everyone’s best interest for the tech industry to retain the right and protection to do so.” ~ Kimberlee Josephson

Financial Markets, Government, Regulation

Government Siphon Targets Corporate Stock Buybacks

– February 8, 2023

“This particular increase in the corporate repurchase excise tax seems unlikely to pass, but some form of it probably will in the future. When it does, another market function will have fallen prey to the unslakable thirst of the insatiable American state.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Government, Monetary Policy, Regulation

Efforts to Depoliticize the Fed Will Likely Make Matters Worse

– February 3, 2023

“These efforts to increase Congressional oversight are unlikely to depoliticize the Fed. Indeed, they are likely to make matters even worse.” ~ Nicolás Cachanosky

Energy, Government, Regulation

Take Your Foot off the Gas

– January 22, 2023

“If environmental zealots in the Biden administration were to get their way, then something would have to answer the call for such a huge increase in electricity demand. Do they have an answer for this challenge?” ~ Jon Sanders

Classical Liberalism, History, Regulation

On the Primacy of the Consumer-Welfare Standard

– January 21, 2023

“Production is a means; consumption is the end. The consumer-welfare standard is nothing more, nor less, than an understanding and acceptance of this fundamental economic reality.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Free Trade, Government, Regulation

Individuals, Not Governments, Have a Comparative Advantage at Improving Comparative Advantages

– January 17, 2023

“There is no plausible case to be made that for us Americans to improve our comparative advantages we need government to protect us from foreign competition.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Free Trade, Government, Regulation

Economic Reality Is Far Too Complex to Be Improved By Trade Restrictions

– January 4, 2023

“Unlike market participants guided by prices, politicians and administrators literally have no reliable information to guide them. They will therefore be guided exclusively by their own biases and hunches.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government, Regulation

What Deeper Lessons Can We Learn From Southwest Airlines’ Meltdown?

– January 4, 2023

“The lesson of Southwest Airlines’ debacle is not that it was ‘dumb’ or ‘shortsighted.’ Rather, it should make all of us think more deeply about the opportunity costs and benefits of small, or marginal changes in this efficiency-resiliency tradeoff.” ~ Craig J. Richardson

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

Pilot Shortage: A Story of Stalled Supply and Rising Demand

– January 1, 2023

“Overzealous regulation of pilot credentialing (by Congress, rather than carriers, insurers, or other stakeholders) have ensured the budget-conscious and the small-town traveler will both be getting a lot less service from airlines.” ~ Laura Williams