One Step Taken, Many More Needed

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Comments Off on One Step Taken, Many More Needed

CEI just put out a press release quoting my colleagues Iain Murray and Wayne Crews, and me. President Obama’s recent executive order will result in as many as 500 regulations coming off the books. We think that’s a good start. But there is much more to do. You can read the press release here; my remarks are below.

Ryan Young, Fellow in Regulatory Studies: “For every thousand dollars that businesses and consumers spend to comply with regulations, this executive order will save them about one. Better than nothing, yes. But let’s not call this real reform. An independent commission should be going through the books, not the agencies themselves. And they should do it every year. Agencies have no incentive to rein in their own size and scope, hence the token cuts and tiny savings. An independent commission does not share that incentive problem. At over 165,000 pages, there is much to trim from the Code of Federal Regulations. Let’s get to it.”

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Posted in regulation

Peter Leeson on Pirates, Anarchy, and the Economic Way of Thinking

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Comments Off on Peter Leeson on Pirates, Anarchy, and the Economic Way of Thinking

Here’s an interview with my former professor Peter Leeson. If the video below doesn’t work, try clicking here. His insights on formal versus informal institutions are worth pondering. I also like his enthusiasm for popularizing the economic way of thinking. Too many economists are reluctant to share its insights outside the profession.

Pete’s book about the economics of pirates, The Invisible Hook, is also worth reading.

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Posted in Economics

Brewers 11, Pirates 4

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 11, Pirates 4

The Brewers and Pirates haven’t played a close game all series. They’ll wrap it up with a day game today. Tomorrow is the Brewers’ first day off since August 8. They’ll go back to Milwaukee and face the Cubs starting Friday.

St. Louis fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-2.

Milwaukee’s magic number is 23. They have 29 games left.

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On the Radio: Lemonade Freedom, and Regulatory Hijinks

Posted on August 23, 2011 | Comments Off on On the Radio: Lemonade Freedom, and Regulatory Hijinks

Tomorrow morning at 9:35 am EST, I will appear on Mark Carbonaro’s show on KION 1460 AM (Salinas, California). We’ll talk about Lemonade Freedom Day, and general regulatory silliness. You can listen live by clicking on the link at the top of the station’s home page.

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Posted in Media Appearances, regulation

DC Earthquake

Posted on August 23, 2011 | Comments Off on DC Earthquake

Just a quick note to friends and family who read this blog that everyone in DC is ok. A wit posted a picture of the damage if you care to take a look.

I have heard rumors of buildings collapsing further south in Culpeper, Virginia and Louisa County, Virginia, near the epicenter. There is less humor to be found there; hope everyone’s alright.

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Posted in Housekeeping

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FCC Repeals 83 Regulations

Posted on August 23, 2011 | Comments Off on FCC Repeals 83 Regulations

In July, President Obama issued an executive order requiring independent agencies to comb through their books and axe obsolete or harmful rules. A similar order for cabinet-level agencies in January saved an estimated $1.5 billion in regulatory costs, or a little less than 0.1 percent of total annual federal regulatory costs.

The order gives agencies 100 days to act. The FCC struck a little early by announcing yesterday it was getting rid of 83 rules. The White House is expected to release the final package for all independent agencies today. Total estimated savings are $10 billion over five years. Combined with the earlier executive order, federal regulatory costs could go from $1.752 trillion per year to about $1.749 trillion per year.

One of the rules the FCC is chucking is the Fairness Doctrine, which empowers the FCC to regulate the ideology of political programming. It hasn’t been enforced since 1987 because it violates the First Amendment (“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech”). But until now, nobody thought to actually remove it from the Code of Federal Regulations. It’s been sitting there the whole time!

Other hygienic measures the FCC is taking include “the deletion of obsolete  “broadcast flag,” cable programming service tier  rate, and broadcast applications and proceedings rules,” according to an FCC press release.

The repeals will become official upon publication in the Federal Register.

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Brewers 6, Mets 2

Posted on August 22, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 6, Mets 2

Ho-hum. Another series sweep. Now Milwaukee travels to Pittsburgh. The four-game set starts with a doubleheader today. On Thursday, the team gets its first day off since August 8.

Elsewhere, the Cardinals beat the Cubs 6-2.

The magic number is down to 27.

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Brewers 8, Pirates 1; Pirates 9, Brewers 2

Posted on August 22, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 8, Pirates 1; Pirates 9, Brewers 2

The Brewers split a doubleheader with the Pirates. Neither game was a close one. They’ll regroup and go at it again tonight.

The Cardinals lost their game to the Dodgers, 2-1.

And just for fun, Mrs. Inertia and I went to last night’s Nationals-Diamondbacks contest. Washington prevailed 4-1 over first-place Arizona. The Nats are a sterling 3-0 in their games I’ve attended this year. Unfortunately, the other two were against the Brewers.

Milwaukee’s magic number goes down by 2. It is now 25, with 32 games left to play. The remaining-games-to-magic-number ratio is at 1.28; it will be fun to see if the Brewers can improve on that ratio.

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Brewers 11, Mets 9

Posted on August 20, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 11, Mets 9

What a game! The Brewers were up 7-1 coming into the 7th. By the end of the 8th, the Mets held a 9-7 advantage. A 4-run 9th put the Brewers on top 11-9. Closer John Axford preserved the lead with his team-record 34th consecutive save, and guaranteed a series win for the Brewers.

The Cardinals and Cubs also played a day game; the Cubs prevailed, 3-0.

Milwaukee’s magic number is now 28 with 35 games to play. They lead their division by 8.5 games.

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Brewers 6, Mets 1

Posted on August 20, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 6, Mets 1

The Brewers got 7 strong innings out of pitcher Shaun Marcum, and the offense took advantage of every opportunity it could. Game two of the three-game set starts shortly.

The Cardinals fell to the Cubs 5-4 in extra innings.

Milwaukee’s magic number is down to 30 with 36 games left. Their playoff odds are up to 94.1 percent.

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Posted in Sports