Megan McArdle points out a delicious piece of partisan hackery.
Back in 2005, President Bush proposed privatizing Social Security. This was one of his few good ideas. But because of poor salesmanship, it was less than popular. Nothing came of it. Rather than press on, The New York Times urged him to cave in, in accordance with the peoples’ wishes.
This year’s health care bill is similarly unpopular. Now The New York Times is urging President Obama to press on, against the peoples’ wishes.
Go read her whole post. It’s great.
Categories: The Partisan Mind
Tagged: megan mcardle, new york times, new york times editorial, partisan, partisan hacks, partisanship, the atlantic
Few people outside of the DC area are likely to notice, but the recent snowstorm shut down the federal government today. Another big snow is on the way, so the feds are also taking tomorrow off.
The Washington Post reports:
Official estimate [sic] that closing the federal government for a day due to the weather costs roughly $100 million in lost productivity and opportunity costs, meaning this weekend’s storm will have potentially cost taxpayers at least $250 million, for last Friday’s early dismissal and Monday’s and Tuesday’s closures.
That is dwarfed, of course, by the opportunity costs of having a $3.8 trillion federal government in the first place. Not to mention the productivity losses.The federal government spends $49.1 billion enforcing regulations that cost nearly $1.2 trillion. if even half of that were freed up, imagine the good that would come of it.
The billions and billions of dollars spent on earmarks and stimulus would do far more good if that money stayed in the productive sector, subject to the self-correcting mechanisms of profit and loss.
In short: America benefits when Washington busybodies take a few days off. So enjoy it while it lasts.
There is great wisdom in Mark Twain’s famous adage: “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the congress is in session.”
Categories: Economics · Philosophy · Political Animals · regulation
Tagged: Economics, federal government, federal shutdown, mark twain, opportunity costs, regulation, snowmaggedon, snowmg, snowpocalypse, snowstorm
The federal government is loosening its restrictions on importing pork rinds from Brazil. Rudolph Foods, Inc., an Ohio company, owns a factory in Brazil, and stands to benefit from the ruling.
Competitors are up in arms. Citing exotic illnesses like foot-and-mouth disease, one competitor told The Wall Street Journal, “It just takes one pig” that is infected to spread a disease… “The risk is low, but the consequences are really high.”
If that is his strongest argument, then the case against liberalization is as weak as it gets. Instead of using the power of government to hobble its rivals, this company should go out and improve its product. Make its pork rind recipe even tastier. And cheaper. Use the import liberalization to its own advantage if possible.
Categories: Economics · Regulation of the Day · Trade
Tagged: brazil, foot and mouth disease, imports, pork, pork rinds, protectionism, rudolph foods, Trade
It is illegal for grocery stores to sell wine in the state of New York. Only liquor stores are allowed to sell the stuff.
This regulation, a relic of Prohibition, lives on because of one of the central concepts in public choice theory: diffused costs and concentrated benefits.
The benefits are concentrated in one constituency: liquor stores. Regulations give them get millions of dollars in free business. That means they have millions of reasons to lobby to keep the status quo.
Consumers, on the other hand, are hurt by the ban by the exact amount that liquor stores benefit. But that hurt is spread far and wide. No one consumer feels enough pain to hire a high-priced lobbyist to open up the market.
That means New York’s misguided restrictions on competition are likely to continue for some time. It’s hard to imagine an aggrieved shopper suing New York’s wine cartel because she has to make an extra trip to get the wine on her grocery list. Or because she pays a bit more than if she lived in a different state.
(Hat tip: Jonathan Moore)
Categories: Economics · Public Choice · Regulation of the Day
Tagged: cartel, concentrated benefits diffused costs, diffused costs concentrated benefits, liquor, liquor stores, new york, new york state, prohibition, Public Choice, regulation, Regulation of the Day, regulations, wine
One reason Democrats were so upset about losing their 60th Senate seat was that it would make it easier for Republicans to obstruct legislation.
Fair enough. But the revived possibility of a filibuster may turn out to be the least of their worries.
Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, has placed a hold on more than 70 of President Obama’s nominees.
His motivations are not partisan. He wants money. A lot of it. If Democrats simply throw a few billion federal dollars at his home state, he promises to release his holds.
Basically, Sen. Shelby is requesting a wealth transfer from federal taxpayers – that’s you and me – to politically favored groups in Alabama. Presumably the earmarks would make him look good to Alabama voters. Sen. Shelby is up for re-election this November. Who doesn’t like free goodies? Vote for Shelby!
But they aren’t free. The money to pay for them has to come from somewhere – us. Let us mince no words, then. Sen. Shelby is a thief. What a shame that such stealing is perfectly legal.
Categories: Earmarks · Elections · Political Animals
Tagged: Earmarks, filibuster, obama nominees, pork, richard shelby, sen. richard shelby, senator richard shelby, taxpayers
Scientists have figured out how to tell what color some dinosaurs were just by looking at their fossils.
Here’s how they did it:
Dr. Prum and his colleagues took advantage of the fact that feathers contain pigment-loaded sacs called melanosomes. In 2009, they demonstrated that melanosomes survived for millions of years in fossil bird feathers. The shape and arrangement of melanosomes help produce the color of feathers, so the scientists were able to get clues about the color of fossil feathers from their melanosomes alone.
Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze.
Categories: Science
Tagged: archaeology, dinosaurs, feathers, fossils melanosomes, paleontology, Science
Robert Fidler is a farmer in Salfords, England. In 2002, he built his family a house that resembles a castle. It is his dream home. Authorities want to require him to demolish it.
“This was a blatant attempt at deception to circumvent the planning process,” [chief planner Mike Miller] said, adding that Fidler now has one year to destroy the castle, remove the ruins and return the property to its original state.
Britain’s High Court agreed with Mr. Miller in a recent decision. Mr. Fidler is appealing.
It is unclear what harm Mr. Fidler’s castle home is causing to anybody. Perhaps the lawsuit is part of a make-work program for the demolition industry?
(Hat tip: Brian McGraw)
Categories: Regulation of the Day
Tagged: castles, england, homes, houses, regulation, Regulation of the Day, salfords, uk, urban planning
