Topic: Regulation

Leviathan Rising

– October 26, 2023

“Much of the growth of the SEC can be seen as a variation of the ‘Baptists and bootleggers’ story, where the SEC is the bootlegger earning bigger budgets by combining with people who believe that its nostrums protect investors, even when they do not.” ~Robert E. Wright

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Badgers and Environmental Laws

– October 26, 2023

“As ever more stringent measures are taken to ‘curb climate change,’ for instance, ever more anger will erupt over their impositions. The days of distant elites toying with our lives, in other words, are numbered.” ~Paul Schwennesen

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Transition This, Transition That

– October 25, 2023

“As a civilization, we don’t replace prior energy sources; we add to them with better ones. Clarification: Better means cheaper or denser energy sources that therefore packs more punch.” ~Joakim Book

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Do Shortages Signal the Fragility of Free Trade?

– October 23, 2023

“If protectionism makes supply chains more robust, then we should expect to see that in the data. A quick overview shows, however, that protected industries are more vulnerable to shocks than less-protected industries.” ~Jon Murphy

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Junk Insurance 

– October 23, 2023

“Obamacare offerings are often inferior to those available in the short-term market, even with huge taxpayer subsidies and transfers from the real suckers who are forced to overpay for their care.” ~Gary M. Galles

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The FTC’s Amazonian Snipe Hunt

– October 21, 2023

“The FTC argues that Amazon’s market power inhibits the ability of competitors to enter the retail superstore marketplace. Such concerns are likely overblown.” ~David Gillette and Warren Barge

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Not Only to No Single Person, But to No Council or Senate Whatever

– October 18, 2023

“Some Republicans’ apparent assumption that the American economy would benefit if American companies operated fully within the US badly misperceives the basic realities of globalized trade.” ~David B. McGarry

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Bookstore Protectionism

– October 16, 2023

“Both past and present suits claimed that the problem was dominant sellers unfairly harming independents, which thereby undermined competition. But in that, they misrepresented both what competition means and who was harming less-successful competitors.” ~Gary M. Galles

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Abolish Parking Minimums. Yes, All of Them

– October 15, 2023

“Zoning codes require parking based on rough estimates of demand for ‘free’ parking at the time of development, ignoring how subsequent economic changes could affect demand.” ~Jason Sorens

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Why Pfizer and Moderna Are Suddenly Charging 500 Percent More for COVID Shots

– October 14, 2023

“Pfizer has a lot of leeway in the price it chooses to charge for its vaccine — especially when one considers almost all rival competitors have been sidelined by the Food and Drug Administration.” ~Jon Miltimore

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Podcast: Did the 2008 Financial Crisis Ever Really END? 

– October 13, 2023

Paul Mueller recently joined AIER as Senior Research Faculty. He spoke with Kate Wand and Liberty Curious to discuss the 2008 Financial Crisis: “Everything we’re seeing around us is a fallout from that crisis.”

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Oh, SNAP

– October 11, 2023

“People make food choices based on a variety of factors, including taste, convenience, and price. Simply paying people to eat more fruits and vegetables is unlikely to change these underlying factors.” ~Antony Davies

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