The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. – F.A. Hayek
Posted in Regulation, You Can't Have it Both Ways on May 24th, 2012
I was thinking about getting my kids onto a plane for the first time in my life and two things bugged me. First is what lesson I wanted to teach my children about the role of government as we get strip searched in an airport just because we want to fly to see our cousins. [...]
Posted in Regulation, Taxation on Mar 19th, 2012
Warren Meyer, aka “Coyote” is coming to visit us next Thursday – hence my increasing references to his site. He runs a private recreation management company and I began reading his site to learn more about the challenges of operating a for-profit business that works in the environmental arena. Here is his latest illustration of [...]
Posted in Regulation on Mar 15th, 2012
One of the great pleasures of being on a college campus is to observe the regular doses of hypocrisy, inconsistency and message massaging that takes place. It sort of feels like working in Disney Land. In today’s installment we learn some good news about a new medical device that was developed here at the U [...]
Posted in Central Planning, Regulation on Feb 19th, 2012
That used to be how the US Dollar was thought of in international exchange markets. Now, perhaps far more depressing, is that the regulatory environment and true economic freedom in the United States is laughable. Don’t be misled by looking at the Economic Freedom of the World by thinking that being in the “Top 10″ [...]
Posted in Regulation on Dec 24th, 2011
How come the FDA does not inspect postal mailing envelopes? Licking glue is probably not the safest thing in the world, and gosh just think of the evils that could come from it. Or maybe the FDA does indeed inspect them?
Posted in Paternalism, Regulation, incentives on Dec 6th, 2011
One of my favorite places in western NY happens to be right by my home – Mendon Ponds Park. I especially love to cross-country ski, snowshoe, and ice-skate there in the winter. In any case, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find places to sled in Monroe County anymore. This is rather startling since the [...]
Posted in Regulation on Nov 25th, 2011
My bet is that the movie theater lobby is behind this stupidity. Any other ideas out there? HT to Julia R for brightening my day!
Posted in Regulation on Nov 22nd, 2011
Food safety nanny-staters in New Jersey’s soup kitchens: This the men and women of the Community Soup Kitchen have provided for 26 years, not once missing a day. Now comes a challenge greater than any snowstorm or power outage. Earlier this year, the Morristown Division of Health ruled that henceforth the soup kitchen would be [...]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Environment, Regulation on Nov 18th, 2011
In this article we are told the following: Those who create costs pay for them — that simple idea is the logic behind the Clean Air Act and most other environmental regulations If that is the simple logic behind the Clean Air Act, then the act should be torn up and tossed into the garbage. [...]
Posted in Regulation on Nov 9th, 2011
Let’s agree that we want a federal government agency to have the power to make strong decisions. Let’s agree that this agency is the US Food and Drug Administration. We now have a choice to make. Allow the FDA to ban everything, but to approve only that which is sanctions (sanction in the affirmative sense). [...]
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