Symbolic Fairness

 Posted by Mike  Book Related, Business And Regulation, U.S. Politics  No Responses »
Jan 312012
 

Congress is rapidly moving forward on legislation that would end the insider-trading exemption enjoyed by members of Congress. This is exactly the kind of law that Congress needs to pass–although for reasons that have more to do with the long-term consequences than the short-term effects of the law in question.

Now, current law actually isn’t too unreasonable. Yes, the exemption gives members of Congress a huge advantage when constructing their stock portfolios. But having 535 people trading on insider knowledge does not substantially alter stock values, in most cases, and does virtually no damage to the health of the economy. Insider trading laws exist so that stock prices are determined by public information, and therefore uninformed people can participate and make money in the market. Having exemptions for a very small number of people doesn’t really change that.
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In Defense of Commerce

 Posted by Mike  2012 Election, Business And Regulation  1 Response »
Nov 102011
 

Rick Perry has been getting a lot of criticism over his debate performance, but for the wrong thing.

At one point in last night’s debate, Perry proudly proclaimed that he would completely eliminate three federal agencies: education and commerce. If you’re looking for the third agency in that last, so is Rick Perry–which is why he’s been the butt of jokes all day today. People forget things. It happens to all of us. It’s embarrassing, but also not a big deal.

Let’s instead look at the two he wants to eliminate. Education I at least understand: it can be argued that everything the department of education does is better off handled at the state level. I disagree–I happen to believe that the Department of Education does a lot of very useful information gathering and coordination, even disregarding federal education regulations–but I at least understand the argument.

But Commerce? Seriously? Does Rick Perry even know what the Department of Commerce does? Continue reading »

A Haze of Disappointment

 Posted by Mike  Business And Regulation, Environment  No Responses »
Sep 022011
 

President Obama announced today that he has ordered the EPA to abandon new proposed smog regulations, basically saying that they would be burdensome to industry at a time when the US economy can’t afford to take the hit. Maybe the timing isn’t right. But this is exactly the kind of environmental regulation that we need, because the costs of the new regulation are easily outweighed by the benefits.

Breathing smog-filled air is dangerous. It can cause asthma attacks and exacerbate existing lung conditions (bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, lung cancer, etc.). In the long-run, smog can do similar damage to the lungs as smoking.

Moreover, that all costs money. Smog causes people to go to their doctors more often, it can cause otherwise mild lung conditions to require hospitalization, it can slow recoveries which in turn increases the prescription drug costs for people with lung conditions. Heck, in the long-run smog can cause people to exercise less by making it harder to breath on high-smog days, and thereby contribute to the obesity epidemic. Smog is expensive.

So yeah, as a result of this regulation, a few coal plants will remain open, some others will be able to avoid buying new equipment to clean their smoke-stacks, and thousands of jobs around the country will be saved, for the moment. And the cost will come from the thousands of kids who end up in the emergency room from preventable asthma attacks.

Good environmental regulation saves money and saves lives. Maybe Obama is right that this particular regulation can be delayed until the economy is better. But if the delay is too long, we’ll all pay for it with out lives, or health, and our wallets. And we can’t really afford that either.

Wanted: Basic Competence

 Posted by Mike  2012 Election, Business And Regulation, Fiscal Issues  2 Responses »
Aug 172011
 

Is it to much to ask that the GOP nominate a candidate with at least a passing understanding of how the economy functions?

To be fair, Mitt Romney still seems the most likely nominee, and this criticism certainly does not apply to him. Now, don’t get me wrong: I disagree with Romney (or I should say, the current incarnation of Romney) on virtually every important issue and believe that he will say or do anything to get elected. But at least he has a basic understanding of fiscal and monetary policy.

That clearly isn’t true of Michelle Bachmann or Rich Perry, his main competition. Just in the last 48 hours, Bachmann has claimed that fixing the economy is “trivial.” because all we need to do is to cut and cap spending. Meanwhile Perry has accused the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of treason and implied that he would face bodily harm if he comes to Texas, all because of Perry’s insistence that the Fed is “printing money”. Let’s look at these claims one at a time.
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What Conservative Purity Looks Like

 Posted by Mike  Business And Regulation, Healthcare, Homosexuality, Obama Administration, War in Iraq  2 Responses »
Nov 232009
 

The Republican Party is holding their national meeting this winter. This is standard fare for both parties, and these meetings are generally taken up by electing and appointing various people, tweaking the platform in small ways, and generally being an excuse for party leaders to get together and schmooze each other once in awhile.

A group of Republicans, however, just threw a bombshell into their own meeting. Here is a text of a resolution that just met the minimum requirement (signed by the chairperson from ten states) to be debated and voted on at this years convention:
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