Burning Rivers, Broadband Price Controls and Beach House Bailouts
Residents of Cleveland observe the 40th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire.
Congress considers a bill to regulate the pricing of broadband Internet service.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute launches the “No Beach House Bailouts” campaign.
For more news, listen to the LibertyWeek podcast here.
1. ENVIRONMENT
Residents of Cleveland observe the 40th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on how people have learned the wrong lessons from the incident:
“The Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969 is an environmentalist myth. It is a myth because it was a minor incident, and it is a myth because it actually demonstrated government’s role in environmental degradation. Real riparian property rights would have stopped the fires from ever happening. You don’t spit on your own doorstep. Instead, Cleveland declared common ownership and invited spitting.”
2. TECHNOLOGY
Congress considers a bill to regulate the pricing of broadband Internet service.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Information Policy Analyst Ryan Radia on the problems with the proposal:
“Who would want to invest in a market in which price hikes must be justified to government overseers? We all want broadband prices to come down. But the best way to make this happen is through innovation driven by competition, not government fiat.”
3. CONSUMER
The Competitive Enterprise Institute launches the “No Beach House Bailouts” campaign.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on the folly of taxpayers subsidizing beach homes for millionaires:
“Currently, Congress is looking at foolish legislation that would create a taxpayer burden to bailout wealthy celebrities like Madonna, O.J. Simpson, Bernie Madoff, and Anna Kournikova. We want to expose the absurdity of this kind of government intervention in the property insurance market.”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.