The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. GLOBAL WARMING
Cities and states adopt global warming policies without federal mandates.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on what every citizen should know about global warming.
“Alarm over the prospect of the Earth warming is not warranted by the agreed science or economics of the issue. Global warming is happening and man is responsible for at least some of it. Yet this does not mean that global warming will cause enough damage to the Earth and humanity to require drastic cuts in energy use, a policy that would have damaging consequences of its own. Moreover, science cannot answer questions that are at heart economic or political, such as whether the Kyoto Protocol is worthwhile.”
2. HEALTH & SAFETY
In China, communications problems delay the country’s reaction to avian bird flu.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Fellow in Economics John Berlau on recent changes to SEC accounting policies could help save lives by helping build up America’s vaccine stockpile.
“The SEC announced a change to its ‘bill-and-hold’ accounting policy to allow vaccine manufacturers to show shareholders the payments they receive for contributing to the government’s vaccine stockpile. The new accounting guidance for vaccines sensibly states that the SEC ‘will not object’ if companies choose to recognize revenues when the payments are received.”
3. INTERNET
A study says the majority of parents have taken steps to protect their children online.CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Analyst Peter Suderman on the problems with one proposal to regulate social networking websites.
“Decisions as to whether or not to block these sites would be best done at a local level, where librarians and educators are intimately aware of the needs of their users. More importantly, the law would give the Federal Communications Commission broad power to define what constitutes a social networking site, setting up the likelihood that a vague, overly expansive definition could restrict far more than what is intended. “
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