Mubarek, Life-Cycle Budgeting, and the CEI Podcast
Today in the News
Mubarek
In 2009, Hilary Clinton publicly called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek her friend.
Warren Brookes Fellow Kathryn Ciano notes that American leaders’ attitude towards Mubarek exemplifies a general political tendency to side with stability over unknown alternatives—even if the alternatives are pro-freedom.
“What makes a government work is people’s faith that it will work. If people believe their government to be untrustworthy they will seek extralegal remedies and self-help. Faith in government keeps the system ticking even when the government misbehaves. […] Politics is a country club. The purpose of an energetic public — and particularly of a strong fourth estate — is to keep the country club as small and as responsive as possible.
Life-Cycle Budgeting
If Congress is going to rein in spending, regulatory agencies need to be put on a tight budget.
Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs John Berlau recommends life-cycle budgeting.
“The obstacle has been debates over the type of accounting to measure a regulation’s cost to the economy. Fortunately, over the last decade, the business world has contributed a promising answer to that question with a technique called life-cycle budgeting. Under this process, also referred to as whole-life costing or total cost of ownership, the full “life-cycle” cost of any expenditure must be calculated before it is spent. As journalist Kevin Mooney has noted, state governments have also had some success in using life-cycle budgeting to keep infrastructure costs down.”
CEI Podcast
In the last CEI Podcast, Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a look at an eminent domain bill passed by the Texas State Senate.