Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray discusses the labor reforms that have led to a thousands-strong sustained protest in Madison, Wisconsin. While the reforms themselves are relatively minor, both sides know that the stakes are high. This may prove to be at a watershed moment in the relationship between public sector unions and taxpayers.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for February 24, 2011: On, Wisconsin
Posted in CEI Podcast, Public Choice, Spending
Tagged iain murray, labor, labor unions, madison protests, organized labor, Protests, public sector unions, unions, wisconsin
Steve Horwitz thinks the poor are better off than they used to be. The data agree with him.
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Posted in Economics
Tagged are the poor getting poorer, ihs, income inequality, inequality, institute for humane studies, steve horwitz
Protests in Wisconsin over public sector compensation cuts have been the big story this week. Over at the Daily Caller, I explain why some of the tactics that union members and supporters are using are actually backfiring.
The teacher sickout is classic bad PR. The parents who have to find and pay for last-minute daycare are now less likely to side with teachers’ unions, not more.
The nationwide saturation coverage is actually doing far more damage. Millions of people are learning about the sweetheart salary and benefit deals that many public sector union members get. Even if Gov. Walker’s cuts pass, the protesting workers will still be much better paid than their non-union counterparts. Both are better compensated in turn than most private sector workers.
Read the whole thing here.
Comments Off on Are the Wisconsin Protests Backfiring?
Posted in Economics, Public Choice, Publications, Spending
Tagged daily caller, public sector unions, scott walker, teacher sickout, wisconsin, wisconsin protests, wisconsin teacher sickout
My colleague Alex Nowrasteh has an op-ed in Investor’s Business Daily where he makes the case for liberalizing the H-1B visa for skilled immigrants.
An oft-neglected point he makes is that if companies can’t legally get the workers they want to come here, they’ll go abroad to hire them.
As with most anything else, prohibiting or limiting immigration comes with unintended, but not unforeseeable consequences.
Read the whole thing here.
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Posted in Immigration
Tagged alex nowrasteh, h-1b, H-1B visas, ibd, Immigration, investor's business daily
Brian McGraw, a Policy Analyst for CEI’s Center for Energy & Environment, talks about the coming incandescent light bulb ban, who it benefits (bulb manufacturers), and who it hurts (consumers who no longer have a choice). Brian also touches on the important distinction between pro-business and pro-market thought. Pro-business thinkers would tend to support an incandescent ban, given what it could do for bulb manufacturer’s bottom lines. Pro-market thinkers prefer an open, competitive market process where consumers decide which type of bulb is best, not lobbyists and politicians.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for February 17, 2011: Let the Best Bulb Win
Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation, The New Religion
Tagged brian mcgraw, cei, cfl, compact fluorescent bulbs, light bulb ban, light bulbs, pro-business, pro-market
Politico headline from today: “Qualcomm exec calls for small-business research funding.”
Alternative headline: “Businessman asks government to give money to businesses.”
Government should not give money to private businesses, period. Businesses should compete in the marketplace, not Washington. There is a lot of money to be made by selling people things they want. Companies that do a good job of that deserve every cent they earn.
Subsidies are not earned. Nor are they given to companies make things people want. Companies already doing that don’t need handouts. In short, corporate welfare is allocated by politics instead of economics.
What Mr. Jacobs is asking for would be a boon for lobbyists and politically favored businesses. But it would be a drag on everyone else. And not only because they would be paying for the handouts. Lost innovations are part of the price. The money spent on corporate welfare is money not spent on more worthy projects.
See also Wayne Crews and I on corporate welfare in the new edition of CEI’s Agenda for Congress.
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Posted in Economics, Public Choice, Spending
Tagged cei agenda for congress, corporate welfare, dueling headlines, headlines, irwin mark jacobs, politico, qualcomm, Ryan Young, subsidies, wayne crews
President Obama announced a plan today to cut federal spending by $1.1 trillion over the next ten years. That’s an average of $110 billion per year, or a little less than 3 percent of federal spending. My employer, CEI, issued a press release about the proposal today that quotes several of our experts. Here’s what I said:
$400 billion of President Obama’s proposed budget cuts would come from freezing non-security discretionary spending, which means it would stay the same. A cut is when spending goes down. While this proposal is better than nothing, at least a third of it is based on false advertising.
You can read the full press release here.
It is against the law to sing in public in Anderson, South Carolina. But the ban could be lifted as soon as today. The city council will vote on the right to sing as part of an effort to clean out the books of obsolete, redundant, and just plain weird laws.
Other obsolete rules set for repeal would cover “bomb shelters, parking meters (which no longer exist in the city) and house numbering rules that predate the current 911 system.” Still other ordinances are already covered by state law.
Laws that might have made sense in the 19th century might not today. Washington, D.C. still has rules on the books for how to herd livestock through city streets, for example. A big part of regulatory reform is doing a better job vetting new rules before they hit the books. But old rules shouldn’t be exempt from scrutiny, either.
Cities, states, and the federal government should make it a priority to comb through the books and eliminate old rules that don’t apply to today’s world, or that are already covered by other levels of government.
Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 165: Singing in Public
Posted in Regulation of the Day
Tagged anderson, anderson sc, obsolete regulations, regulation, regulatory reform, singing in public, south carolina
Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a close look at an eminent domain reform bill just passed by the Texas State Senate. As written, the bill would do little to actually solve the problem of government seizing private property from one private party and giving it to another private party with better political connections. Marc suggests some fixes and notes that many people are not fooled by this weak effort at reform.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for February 10, 2011: How Not to Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
Posted in CEI Podcast, Law, Political Animals, regulation
Tagged blight, eminent domain, eminent domain abuse, land use policy, marc scribner, texas, texas state senate, urban planning
Congress never actually votes on most regulations. Over 3,500 regulations hit the books most years. But Congress usually passes fewer than 200 bills per year. As Wayne Crews and I explain in today’s Investor’s Business Daily, this is regulation without representation.
Only Congress, and not agencies, have the power to legislate. But that is exactly what is happening now. Bills to regulate carbon emissions, regulate the Internet, and more all failed in Congress. But agencies are enacting rules. If you can’t legislate, regulate. This is wrong.
It allows politicians to escape blame for unpopular or controversial regulations. Don’t blame me, blame bureaucrats! It also gives agencies little incentive to rein in their worst impulses. If they can do whatever they want, they will work to expand their budget and authority.
The first step in solving the problem of regulation without representation is requiring Congress to vote on major regulations. Not all regulations — 3,500 votes is a bit much. And agencies do deserve some independence on administrative affairs and minor detail work. But requiring 200 votes on major rules costing at least $100 million each is the least Congress should do.
The REINS Act, recently introduced by Rep. Geoff Davis and Sen. Rand Paul, would do just that. There are many facets to regulatory reform. There is much more to do. But putting a damper on regulation without representation is a good start.
You can read Wayne’s and my article here.
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Posted in Publications, regulation
Tagged deregulate to stimulate, geoff davis, ibd, investor's business daily, rand paul, regulation, regulation without representation, REINS Act, Ryan Young, wayne crews
Inertia Wins! 