Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young looks at the IRS’ proposal to save you time by doing your taxes for you. Because you would be liable for any of the IRS’ mistakes, you would still have to check over your return. This negates much of the time savings. It could also cost employers as much as $5 billion in increased reporting requirements. Then there is the conflict of interest between your collector also being your tax preparer.
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Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics, Taxation
Tagged irs, michelle minton, paye, regulation, return-free income tax, Ryan Young, tax, tax policy, taxes
Michelle Minton, CEI’s Director of Insurance Studies, takes a whirlwind tour of alcohol regulations across the country. From Pennsylvania to Texas to Colorado, there are regulations at every turn. They do everything from raise revenue to tell people what products they can buy at what times, to shelter politically favored companies from pesky competition. In this way, alcohol is like most other sectors of the economy.
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Posted in CEI Podcast, Nanny State, regulation
Tagged alcohol, alcohol regulation, blue laws, cei podcast, michelle minton, prohibition, regulation
Posted in regulation
Tagged ethanol, good intentions, health insurance, osborne reef, reason, reason tv, regulation, unintended consequences
The Federal Register is not a perfect barometer of how active government is. Sometimes rules that ramble on for dozens of pages are almost innocuous. An economically disastrous regulation can take up less than a page. But in general, high page counts mean a more active government.
Over at the AmSpec blog, I break down some of the numbers behind the Federal Register’s latest milestone — 75,000 pages.
President Bush still holds the adjusted page count record. But President Obama is putting up quite a challenge; at its current 327-page per day pace, the 2010 Federal Register would be 81,560 unadjusted pages long.
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Posted in regulation
Tagged american spectator, amspec blog, bush, federal register, obama, regulation
In Roselle Park, New Jersey, it is against the law to fall asleep in public. It is intended to address Roselle Park’s homelessness problem. Maybe the theory is that if you pass a law banning homelessness, or at least its trappings, nobody will be homeless anymore.
Or maybe it will merely keep them out of sight, and out of mind. After all, it can be depressing to see people sleeping on benches, at bus stops, and in parks. Especially if they clearly have nowhere else to go. And they can’t have that in Roselle Park.
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Posted in Regulation of the Day
Tagged 1010 wins, homelessness, new jersey, regulation, Regulation of the Day, roselle park, sleep, sleeping in public
Business Insider has a list of 12 of America’s most ridiculous regulations. Many of them have been covered on this site. But some of them haven’t, including:
-In Texas, computer repair technicians are required to get a private investigator’s license.
-In Milwaukee, it is illegal to close a business without a license. Closing businesses must also pay a tax of $2 for every $1,000 of inventory intended to be sold in a going out of business sale.
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Posted in regulation
Tagged absurd regulations, licensing, milwaukee, occupational licensing, regulation, texas
This week I switch from host to guest. Have a listen here.
Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young explains how an IRS proposal for mandatory certification of tax preparers would hurt consumers and taxpayers. It is one more example of how regulation can hurt competition. Large tax preparation firms would benefit at the expense of individuals and smaller firms who can’t afford the added regulatory burden.
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Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics, Media Appearances, regulation, Taxation
Tagged competing in washington, competition, h&r block, irs, marc scribner, ptin, regulation, Ryan Young, tax law, tax preparation, taxes
In Orange County, Florida, barbering without a license is illegal. Perhaps owing to the absurdity of the regulation, the offense is only a misdemeanor. Barriers to entry, such as licensing, usually serve as ways for existing barbers to limit competition. But something else must be going on in Orange County. Look at how barber licensing is being enforced:
As many as 14 armed Orange County deputies, including narcotics agents, stormed Strictly Skillz barbershop during business hours on a Saturday in August, handcuffing barbers in front of customers during a busy back-to-school weekend.
It was just one of a series of unprecedented raid-style inspections the Orange County Sheriff’s Office recently conducted with a state regulating agency, targeting several predominantly black- and Hispanic-owned barbershops in the Pine Hills area.
The raids were performed without a warrant. Their ostensible goal was to put a stop to other crimes going on in the shops. But according to the Orlando Sentinel, “records show that during the two sweeps, and a smaller one in October, just three people were charged with anything other than a licensing violation.” There were 37 arrests in all.
(Via Radley Balko)
Posted in Regulation of the Day
Tagged armed raids, barber shops, barbers, florida, orange county, orlando sentinel, radley balko, regulation, Regulation of the Day
This video gives some examples.
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Posted in regulation
Tagged chuck, economic freedom, ij, institute for jsutice, licensing regulations, regulation
CEI’s Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy Ben Lieberman explains how new energy regulations affect every room in your house, from the basement to the bathroom to the kitchen and beyond.
Comments Off on New CEI Podcast – October 25, 2010: Regulating Every Room
Posted in CEI Podcast, regulation, The New Religion
Tagged ben lieberman, cei, cei podcast, energy efficency, regulation, saving energy, tradeoffs
Inertia Wins! 