Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman tells the story of how the EPA is forcing a power plant in New Mexico to install $370 million worth of equipment to improve visibility in a nearby park. Peer-reviewed research says the visibility improvement has a 35 percent chance of being perceptible to the human eye. New Mexican electricity consumers, meanwhile, will be able to perceive their bills going up by an average of $82 per year.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for August 18, 2011: How the EPA Makes Electricity Less Affordable
Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation, The New Religion
Tagged clean air act, electricity, electricity regulation, epa, New Mexico
Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray talks about the rash of children’s lemonade stands being shut down by police, and his plans to celebrate Lemonade Freedom Day on August 20. Started by Robert Fernandes, families across the country will set up lemonade stands in their neighborhoods without going through the permits and inspections that many towns now require.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for August 11, 2011: Lemonade Freedom Day
Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation
Tagged abigail krutsinger, health and safety regulations, lemonade, lemonade freedom day, lemonade stands, lydia coenen, robert fernandes
Congress is likely to take up stalled free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea when it returns from its August recess. Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith talks about the good and bad parts of the agreements. Billions of dollars of economic benefits are offset by trade-unrelated provisions, such as labor and environmental standards. These erode our trading partners’ lawmaking sovereignty. An increase in trade adjustment assistance also seems likely. This gives money and training to workers who lose their jobs because of international trade.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for August 4, 2011: Liberalizing Trade
Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics, Trade
Tagged colombia, colombia fta, fran smith, frances b. smith, fta, jagdish bhagwati, korea, korea fta, panama, panama fta, south korea, south korea fta, Trade
President Obama made a speech on immigration reform this week. He is looking for a dance partner in Congress to ease restrictions on the immigrant-dependent high-tech sector. Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh points out that there are several bills already in Congress that would do just that, including the STAPLE Act and the DREAM Act.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for July 28, 2011: Immigration Reform
Posted in CEI Podcast, Immigration
Tagged alex nowrasteh, dream act, e-verify, H-1B visas, Immigration, immigration reform, staple act, undocumented immigration
Tough economic times are forcing symphony orchestras across the country to cut budgets and lay off staff, and in some cases shut down entirely. Labor Policy Counsel Vinnie Vernuccio, who coauthored a recent op-ed in the New York Daily News, finds that labor unions, by resisting necessary changes and limiting organizations’ ability to adapt to hard times, are doing more harm than good for the arts.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for July 21, 2011: Stopping the Music
Posted in CEI Podcast, Music, The Arts
Tagged arts, classical music, labor, labor policy, new york, new york daily news, orchestra of st. luke's, the arts, vinnie vernuccio
Earlier this week, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt gave a speech at a conference on free enterprise. Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman points out the irony of a career rent-seeker extolling free markets. GE spent $47 million in 2007 lobbying for an incandescent light bulb ban, cap-and-trade carbon regulations, and other government policies that would tilt the playing field in GE’s favor; its compact fluorescent and LED bulbs offer a higher profit margin.Yeatman also discusses a bill currently winding through Congress that would repeal the lightbulb ban.
Posted in CEI Podcast, The New Religion
Tagged brian williams, free enterprise, jeffrey immelt, light bulb ban, nbc, rent seeking, rep. joe barton, William Yeatman
One federal government study says federal regulations cost $1.75 trillion. Another says it’s $62 billion. The difference is almost a factor of 30. Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews compares the two, and talks about the hazards of calculating regulatory costs and benefits. As it turns out, $1.75 trillion might be an understatement.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for July 7, 2011: How Much Does Regulation Cost?
Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation
Tagged cass sunstein, mark crain, nicole crain, oira, omb, regulation podcast, regulatory benefits, regulatory costs, sba
Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray‘s new book is Stealing You Blind: How Government Fat Cats Are Getting Rich Off of You. He explains why the Washington, DC area is the richest in the country, tells the story of the small-town city manager with a tax-free $1 million-per-year pension, and offers some reforms that could bring government down to a more appropriate size.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for June 29, 2011: Stealing You Blind
Posted in Books, CEI Podcast
Tagged bell, bell california, iain murray, public sector pay, public sector unions, Regnery, stealing you blind
Bunker fuel is a heavy fuel used by large ships around the world. Oil tankers, container ships, and more rely on bunker fuel because it’s cheaper than other kinds of fuel. Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a look at new environmental regulations in California intended to reduce bunker fuel usage. The rules are actually causing many ships to use more bunker fuel, not less. If proposed fixes succeed, the result would essentially be a tariff on most global trade — a $16 trillion industry.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel
Posted in CEI Podcast, The New Religion, Trade
Tagged bunker fuel, california, carb, containter ships, environmental regulations, marc scribner, oil tankers, shipping
In a recent NBC interview, President Obama blamed ATMs for taking away bank tellers’ jobs, and computerized airline check-in kiosks for eliminating aviation jobs. Communications Coordinator Lee Doren points out that innovation doesn’t affect the number of jobs so much as the types of jobs. Accomplishing more while using less labor is actually the key to prosperity. People looking for an explanation for today’s high unemployment need to look elsewhere.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for June 15, 2011: Do ATMs Kill Jobs?
Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics
Tagged atms, basic economics, cafe hayek, causes of unemployment, Don Boudreaux, econ 101, economic fallacies, Economics, jobs, jonah goldberg, lee doren, luddites, obama, obama atm, president obama, unemployment
Inertia Wins! 