Regulation of the Day 12: The Price of Shrimp

Posted on July 6, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 12: The Price of Shrimp

The twelfth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the International Trade Administration ($420 million 2009 budget, 1,433 employees).

The ITA has been upset for some time that a Thai shrimp exporter is selling shrimp cheaply; hungry consumers have had no complaints.

Using sophisticated formulae, the Department of Commerce has determined that the minimum allowable profit margin for shrimp exporters is 1.88 percent. Anything less than that constitutes “dumping,” which is selling goods on the cheap in order to harm your competitors. Anti-dumping regulations are in place to make sure that companies don’t save their customers too much money.

This kerfuffle is a perfect example of how regulators view prices and profits. If you charge more than your competitors, then you are abusing your market power. If you charge the same as everyone else, that is evidence of collusion. If, like our Thai friends, you charge low prices, then you are unfairly undercutting the competition.

Whatever you charge, and whatever your profit margin, there is a rationale for regulating you.

Read more on pages 31,911-31-912 of the 2009 Federal Register.

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Posted in Economics, International, regulation, Regulation of the Day, Trade

Regulation of the Day 11: Saving the Children from Durable Products

Posted on July 1, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 11: Saving the Children from Durable Products

The eleventh in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the Consumer Product Safety Commission ($63.25 million 2008 budget, 401 employees).

CPSC’s latest rule latest proposal would require:

each manufacturer of a durable infant or toddler product to: Provide with each product a postage-paid consumer registration form; keep records of consumers who register such products with the manufacturer; and permanently place the manufacturer name and contact information, model name and number, and the date of manufacture on each such product.

Quickly, ask yourself: how much safer will this make our children? How much more expensive will the affected goods be? How many people actually bother to send in those registration cards, anyway? CPSC isn’t saying.

The proposed rule is open to comment until September 14. You can weigh in at regulations.gov if you like.

Details on pages 30,983-30,990 of the 2009 Federal Register.

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Posted in Regulation of the Day

Franken Declared Winner in MN

Posted on June 30, 2009 | Comments Off on Franken Declared Winner in MN

Interesting timing. One wonders if the Minnesota Supreme Court was waiting to see if Waxman-Markey would pass the House. Franken, remember, represents the crucial 60th Senate vote.

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Posted in Elections, Political Animals

Regulation of the Day 10: Cap and Trade

Posted on June 30, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 10: Cap and Trade

The tenth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the U.S. House of Representatives (435 employees, $4 trillion budget).

The Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill that passed the House last week contains 397 new regulations, according to CEI Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman and former CEI Warren Brookes Fellow Jeremy Lott. The legislation now heads off to the Senate.

It is worth noting that just minutes after the final vote came in, Washington was hit by a fierce hail storm; not that Congress’ doings have any cause-and-effect relationship with the weather (ahem).

You can read the bill — Congress didn’t — by clicking here.

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Posted in Political Animals, Regulation of the Day, The New Religion

Regulation of the Day 9: School Buses

Posted on June 29, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 9: School Buses

The ninth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the Department of Transportation ($70.3 billion 2009 budget, 58,622 employees).

Before any regulation goes into effect, the proposal is released to the public for a comment period. Anyone who is interested can write the agency and say why they think the new rule is a good or a bad idea. My employer, CEI, does this regularly, by the way (see here and here).

Agencies are legally obliged to take all comments into account before going forward with the rule. And sometimes, they really do listen.

Because of overwhelmingly negative comments, DOT has decided not to go forward with a proposed change to federal school bus policy (isn’t education supposed to be a local issue?).

Read all about it on page 30,499 of the 2009 Federal Register.

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Posted in Regulation of the Day

Push for the Postseason

Posted on June 28, 2009 | Comments Off on Push for the Postseason

The Brewers took two out of three games against the Giants this weekend. They hold first place in the NL Central over the Cardinals by just a hair. Milwaukee’s winning percentage is .533, versus .532 for St. Louis.

This could be the most exciting division race of the year. The last-place Pirates are only five games out; this in a division with six teams.

The magic number for eliminating the third-place Reds is down to a mere 85. The next stretch of the Brewers’ schedule is heavy on home games. But they’ll be playing good teams (Mets, Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers), which could negate home-field advantage. We’ll see what comes of it.

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Posted in Sports

Waxman-Markey Passes House 219-212

Posted on June 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Waxman-Markey Passes House 219-212

I am an economist, not a political analyst. I am not a political partisan, but I do oppose cap-and-trade. Now that my biases — and limitations — are out in the open, here is my take on the down-and-dirty politics of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade House vote.

It was close. That usually bodes poorly for Senate passage. But something in my gut tells me it will make it through. A filibuster is possible since there are still only 59 Democrats.

But filibusters are used sparingly. That probably means this bill will not face one.

Here’s why. There will be a trillion-dollar health care bill this summer. And the vote on Sonia Sotomayor. Republicans will probably only want to use one filibuster.

Sotomayor would not shift the ideological balance of the court, which means Republicans will probably be fine with letting her through. They will put up enough of a fight to appease their base voters. But I don’t see a filibuster.

That leaves either cap-and-trade or health care. With the economy in trouble, environmental issues have taken a back seat in the public mind. Pocketbook issues always trump “luxury issues” like global warming in times like these.

Republicans therefore have more to gain from filibustering health care than Waxman-Markey. I personally think cap-and-trade will do more to hurt the economy than the forthcoming health care bill. But the median voter doesn’t.

And politicians make their calculations on their electoral prospects, not on economic growth. They will cater to the median voter.

That means the GOP will save its filibuster for health care. Waxman-Markey will pass the Senate unless there are significant Democratic defections, or something sinks the health care bill before Waxman-Markey hits the Senate.

That’s my prediction. Now let’s see what happens. Happy to hear what you think.

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Posted in Political Animals, Predicting the Future, The New Religion

Is the New Religion Losing Steam?

Posted on June 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Is the New Religion Losing Steam?

As with most things, Congress is behind the times on religion. The new religion, that is – the faith that anthropogenic global warming is an urgent crisis. Mankind has sinned against Mother Gaia with our modern ways. We must repent our sins by giving up earthly goods. Or at least by paying more for them. Believers can also purchase indulgences, now called “carbon credits.”

As Congress gets set to vote today on the $2 trillion Waxman-Markey climate change bill, the village atheists are having a bit of a coming out party. The argument from consensus has long been believers’ biggest weapon, if a weak one; millions of people can be wrong, and often are.

More and more, even that argument is being taken away from them. Kim Strassel lists a few of the bigger names who are now saying the global warming debate is more about religion than science:

The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. — 13 times the number who authored the U.N.’s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world’s first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak “frankly” of her nonbelief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming “the worst scientific scandal in history.” Norway’s Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the “new religion.” A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton’s Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled.

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Posted in The New Religion

Regulation of the Day 8: Solid Waste

Posted on June 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 8: Solid Waste

The eighth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the Environmental Protection Agency ($7.3 billion 2007 budget, 17,964 employees).

When an agency screws up really badly, political leaders will usually step in and pass some reforms. For example, the Immigration and Naturalization Service sent visa approval letters to two 9/11 hijackers – six months after the attacks. Congress responded by changing the agency’s name.

I haven’t heard of any outrageous bungling at the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste. But I’m wondering; OSW is also changing its name. It is now ORCR – the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery.

Read all about it on pages 30,228-30,235 of the 2009 Federal Register.

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Posted in Regulation of the Day, The New Religion

Regulation of the Day 7: Rice Inspection Certificates

Posted on June 24, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 7: Rice Inspection Certificates

The seventh in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the Department of Agriculture ($95 billion 2008 budget, 105,778 employees).

Our rice is in crisis. Inspection certificates currently contain some data in the grade line section that better belongs in the results section. Fortunately, the USDA is stepping in to right this horrible wrong.

Read all about it in pages 30,015-30-017 of the 2009 Federal Register.

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Posted in Regulation of the Day