Posted in Competition, Regulation on Aug 23rd, 2010
With the latest egg scare coming to a head, I am sure that you will be reading plenty of commentary on how we need the FDA to take a greater role in food oversight, and that the powers of the FDA should be expanded. Of course, a crisis is a great opportunity to get people [...]
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Posted in Regulation on Aug 8th, 2010
Arnold Kling has written a lot about how labor is very much like capital in the new economy. But he has forgotten to add that government policy also makes L look a lot more like K:
And even if the economic outlook were more encouraging, increasing revenues is always uncertain and expensive. As much as I [...]
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Posted in Regulation on Aug 7th, 2010
We just missed the annual Wacky Warning Labeling Contest. Some past beauties include:
On a baby stroller: “remove child before folding”
On an iron: “never iron clothes while being worn” (actually, I’ve done this to a sleeve end before)
On a snowblower: “do not use on roof”
On a box of birthday candles: “do not use soft wax as [...]
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Because, you know, 7 year old girls regularly poison people, and adults don’t have the good sense to think that a 7 year old’s stand might not be the most clean thing ever. Even if it was to “protect the public health” how does a $120 fee accomplish it?
It’s hardly unusual to hear small-business owners [...]
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Posted in Regulation on Jun 19th, 2010
Here is the mission of the Texas Railroad Commission:
The Railroad Commission has primary regulatory jurisdiction over oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas & hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, and coal & uranium surface mining operations. The Commission is responsible for research & education to promote the use [...]
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Posted in Price System, Regulation on Jun 18th, 2010
A simple presentation of the Alchian-Allen theorem is that if you take two goods with different prices and you add a fixed cost to each of them, then the “more expensive” good becomes relatively less expensive. Here is a simple illustration:
Suppose we have two types of booze: White Lightning Bourbon, which costs $8.00 per fifth, [...]
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Posted in Regulation on Jun 12th, 2010
From Alex Tabarrok:
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday ordered five companies that offer genome-sequencing tests to consumers, or that provide the scientific services for them, to prove the validity of such products.
The FDA said the tests, which scan a person’s DNA for gene variants associated with specific diseases, are medical devices requiring the agency’s [...]
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Posted in Government Thuggery, Regulation on Jun 9th, 2010
When du Pont developed cellophane (you know, plastic wrap) it was prosecuted by the Department of Justice under the terms of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Why?
Because after spending millions of dollars in R&D to develop this new product, it was able to increase sales from $0 to $100 million per year over a 20 year period. [...]
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Posted in Regulation on May 27th, 2010
I just read that the Administration is suspending Arctic drilling. Now, oil exploration and drilling is not exactly an unregulated free-market frenzy. So, if it is dangerous to drill in deep Artic waters, then shouldn’t regulators have realized this before the massive Gulf explosion?
I can’t blame the Administration for showing the public it is “doing [...]
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Posted in Corporatism, Regulation on May 24th, 2010
There is virtually no action to be taken by a business that could not be considered to run afoul of anti-trust legislation. Modern Anti-Trust is administered through two government agencies – the Justice Department’s Anti-Trust Division and the Federal Trade Commission. By the way the statue standing outside the FTC headquarters should give you an [...]
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