OpenMarket

The number of new final regulations this year topped 1,000 last Tuesday, and President Trump and Congress entered Memorial Day weekend at odds on issues ranging from infrastructure to the renegotiated NAFTA/USMCA trade agreement. Meanwhile, rulemaking agencies marked the unofficial start of summer with new regulations ranging from temporary safety zones to potato handling.

Australian voters stunned the pollsters and the experts in the general election on May 18th by returning the ruling coalition of conservative parties to office. Votes are still being counted and a few House races are still to be decided by a complicated preferential system, but the Liberal and National Parties (LNP) will have a majority with at least 77 and probably 78 seats in the 151-member House of Representatives.  

We have previously reported on Consolidated Edison’s recent restrictions on new natural gas hookups in the greater New York metropolitan area as a consequence of insufficient supplies, as well as the highly unhelpful efforts of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to block proposed new pipelines that would bring more supplies into the state. The governor’s objections are largely based on his climate change advocacy, though safety has also been a stated concern.

Recently I was in the audience for an interesting panel discussion, hosted by the Federalist Society, on corporate social responsibility. Should corporate managers only work to increase profit and shareholder value, the panel considered, or should they also work to benefit a broader group of stakeholders adjacent to the firm?

Today, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released a draft notice indicating that it will be withdrawing a 2016 proposed rule that would have required trains to have at least two crewmembers onboard at all times during operation.

Environmental regulations transfer substantial wealth and can be subject to the same political failure and regulatory pork-barreling that characterize economic regulation—perhaps more so, given the international scale of control sought, and some of the movement’s anti-market roots.  

The CFPB’s new director, Kathleen Kraninger, assured the Senate Banking Committee in her confirmation hearing that she was committed to upholding the rule of law. More than just a buzzword, Director Kraninger has shown her commitment through such actions as asking Congress to clarify the bureau’s authority to supervise for compliance with the Military Lending Act and ending “regulation by enforcement.”

I recently reviewed the book “Alienated America” by Washington Examiner editor Timothy Carney, and I’d like to return to one of the observations he made in a section titled “Walmart’s America.”

The ability of citizens to communicate privately and to retain anonymity if desired are foundational rights slipping away in the regulatory panopticon of the administrative state.

Large U.S. companies slowed their investment in the first quarter of 2019, largely because of ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. This is exactly what free-trade economics suggested would happen. When costs increase because of tariffs and uncertainty shadows the direction of trade policy, companies delay investment.