Today’s American Spectator Online contains my take on Brett Favre’s comeback.
I think it’s great for Brett. He loves to play, so he might as well. Don’t think it’s good for the rest of the team’s morale. Brett may actually hurt the team despite being a definite upgrade at the quarterback position.
It’ll be interesting to see how those dynamics interact as the season runs its course. I also hear he’ll be playing in tonight’s preseason game.
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Posted in Publications, Sports
The new issue of the CEI Planet has an article of mine about proposed legislation to make the TARP bank bailout program more transparent.
Main point: more transparency would alleviate some of TARP’s symptoms. But TARP itself is a disease. The sooner Congress gains the political will to recover from its bailout fever, the better.
You can read the rest of the Planet here.
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Posted in Bailouts, Economics, Publications
Over at the Washington Examiner, I make the case for why trustbusters should lay off the Microsoft-Yahoo search engine partnership. My key point:
“If regulations are to be effective, they must be either clear or silent; antitrust statutes are neither. That alone is reason enough to urge trustbusters to back off the Microsoft-Yahoo partnership, and just let the competitors compete. Consumers should pick the winner, not politicians.”
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Posted in Antitrust, Economics, Publications, Technology
The thirteenth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.
Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL, 3rd term).
Rep. Lipinski has introduced the Securing Cabin Baggage Act, which would set a maximum size for carry-on bags.
In today’s American Spectator Online, I explain why the bill wouldn’t add to security, wouldn’t make flying more convenient, and may well be the result of rent-seeking.
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Posted in Economics, Nanny State, Public Choice, Publications, Regulation of the Day
Wayne Crews and I are in this morning’s Washington Examiner touting a deregulatory stimulus package.
For a fuller treatment of the ideas, see Wayne’s 10,000 Commandments study.
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Posted in Economics, Publications, Stimulus
Wayne Crews and I have a piece in today’s Detroit News with some ideas for getting the economy back on track.
The key line: “Doing business in America is becoming very expensive. No wonder there is less of it.”
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Posted in Economics, Publications, regulation, Stimulus
In today’s Investor’s Business Daily, Wayne Crews and I have a piece about regulation. Federal regulations alone cost businesses and consumers $1.17 trillion last year. State and local rules are extra. We offer some ideas for lightening the load and stimulating the economy.
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Posted in Economics, Publications, regulation
My colleague Seth Bailey and I have this letter in today’s Financial Times:
Sir, Henry Kaufman frets that “libertarian dogma led the Fed astray” (April 28). Congress, not free-market ideology, is the real culprit.One reason is mission creep. The Fed’s original job was to keep inflation low by keeping the money supply in check. That’s it. The Humphrey-Hawkins Act of 1978 expanded that mission to include keeping unemployment low.
Low-inflation monetary policy and low-unemployment monetary policy contradict each other. If the Fed keeps inflation low, then it cannot lower unemployment rates through an artificial inflation-induced boom. If the Fed wants to lower unemployment, it must forgo low inflation. Worse, since a bust always follows an inflationary boom, business cycles become more volatile.
The results speak for themselves. The Fed can control inflation – if left free from political interference. But it cannot also accomplish its other missions, especially through the un-libertarian means of manipulating price levels. Where is the libertarianism?
Ryan Young and Seth Bailey,
Research Associates,
Competitive Enterprise Institute,
Washington, DC, US
Comments Off on Fed’s Policies Contradict Each Other
Posted in Economics, Monetary Theory, Publications
The American Spectator Online ran an article of mine today on sales taxes on the Internet. Taxation without representation at its finest. Read it here.
Comments Off on How Not to Tax the Internet
Posted in Economics, Publications, Taxation
The American Spectator Online ran my take on Brett Favre’s latest retirement.
Inertia Wins! 