Category Archives: Economics

Economic Freedom

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Comments Off

There is a small bit of hyperbole at the end. But aside from that, this is a really good video that explains just how much better off people are in free economies than their unfree variants — especially the poor.

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Posted in Economics

CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel

Posted on June 23, 2011 | Comments Off

Have a listen here.

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.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, The New Religion, Trade

Tagged bunker fuel, california, carb, containter ships, environmental regulations, marc scribner, oil tankers, shipping

Technology Doesn’t Destroy Jobs

Posted on June 23, 2011 | Comments Off

Russ Roberts with a must-read in yesterday’s WSJ:

The story goes that Milton Friedman was once taken to see a massive government project somewhere in Asia. Thousands of workers using shovels were building a canal. Friedman was puzzled. Why weren’t there any excavators or any mechanized earth-moving equipment? A government official explained that using shovels created more jobs. Friedman’s response: “Then why not use spoons instead of shovels?”

Read the whole thing.

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Posted in Economics

We Need Regulators, Not Interveners

Posted on June 22, 2011 | Comments Off

The Constitution’s Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to regulate commerce. What does that mean, exactly? Over at the Daily Caller, my colleague Jacque Otto and I explain that regulation is about making commerce regular: no barriers to entry or trade, clear, understandable, and consistent rules, and so on.

Most of what people call regulation doesn’t have anything to with regular commerce. These kinds of rules are more accurately called interventions.

These interventions didn’t appear out of thin air, either:

One important reason regulators intervene is that many businesses want them to — businesses spend considerable effort and resources lobbying Washington to that end. For the most part, American companies compete on quality, price, or other consumer preferences. But on too many occasions, some companies try to use regulatory interventions to dispatch the competition. Sprint’s efforts to squander AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile are emblematic of this troubling trend.

Lessons abound for antitrust regulators — sorry, interveners.

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Posted in Antitrust, Economics, regulation

Tagged Antitrust, at&t merger, at&t t-mobile merger, commerce clause, constitution, interveners, intervention, irregular commerce, regular commerce, regulation, regulators, sprint

CEI Podcast for June 15, 2011: Do ATMs Kill Jobs?

Posted on June 15, 2011 | Comments Off

Have a listen here.

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.

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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

Regulation of the Day 180: Braiding Hair

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 1 comment

Businesses often use regulations as a cudgel to bludgeon their competitors. Occupational licensing is one of the most-abused types of regulation. John Stossel’s latest column shows how by telling the story of Jestina Clayton, an immigrant from Africa who braids hair for a living.

Her customers are satisfied. But now her competitors want her to take 2,000 hours of classes and spend thousands of dollars to get a cosmetology license. This even though braiding is the only service Jestina offers. And because the her competitors are the very people who grant or deny licenses, it will be easy for them to keep entrepreneurs like Jestina out of business even after she completes the licensing requirements.

Jestina’s story repeats itself every day in any number of occupations. Stossel writes:

Once upon a time, one in 20 workers needed government permission to work in their occupation. Today, it’s one in three. We lose some freedom every day.

“Occupational licensing laws fall hardest on minorities, on poor, on elderly workers who want to start a new career or change careers,” Avelar said. “(Licensing laws) just help entrenched businesses keep out competition.”

This is not what America was supposed to be.

He’s right.

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Posted in Competition, Economics, Regulation of the Day

Tagged avelar, competition, cosmetology, cosmetology license, counterproductive regulations, ij, institute for justice, jestina clayton, john stossel, licensing, occupational licensing, restricting competition

Economical Writing

Posted on June 1, 2011 | 1 comment

Deirdre McCloskey’s short Economical Writing is one of the best writing guides there is. One reason is that it is, in fact, a guide. It is not a manual. It is not filled with rules and procedures that one must follow… or else. Instead, much like McCloskey’s own writing, it takes a less rigid approach; good writing is anything but rigid. McCloskey shows her suggestions in action, and shows the reader common pitfalls they are better off avoiding. But she rarely commands.

And as it turns out, Economical Writing is now available for free online. You can read it right there on the web page, or you can download it.

Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in becoming a better writer.

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Posted in Books, Economics

Tagged Books, deirdre mccloskey, economical writing, writing guides