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Robert Reich Gets It
Some of the consequences of increasing government’s role in health care are easy predict.
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Regulation of the Day 61: Big Screen TVs – Mankind’s Doom!
On November 4, California regulators may vote to ban big-screen televisions. The large sets use more energy than they would prefer.
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Regulation of the Day 60: Hybrid Car Noise
One advantage of hybrid cars is that they are quiet. Too quiet, some would say. Blind pedestrians may not hear a hybrid coming around the…
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Regulation of the Day 59: Pharmacy Interns in Colorado
It is illegal to intern for a pharmacist in Colorado without a license.
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Markets vs. Special Interests
"It is precisely the fact that the market does not respect vested interests that makes the people concerned ask for government interference."…
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This Year’s Economics Nobel Winners
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President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
President Obama is in a prime position to work wonders for the cause of peace. He can institute free trade in America. Trade is the…
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Regulation of the Day 58: Banning Children from Playgrounds
A new regulation in Kensington, Maryland bans children over five years old from using a local playground between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.
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Precisely Backwards
Few things are more taxing than our elected officials’ economic illiteracy. How sad that visiting a wonderful country like ours may soon be one of…
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Regulation of the Day 57: Minimum Price Agreements
A new Maryland law makes it illegal for manufacturers to set a minimum retail price for their products in sales contracts. The law is meant…
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Corporate Human Rights?
Over at the Detroit News, Hans Bader and I explain why corporations have human rights despite not being human. The reason why? Transaction costs.
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Regulation of the Day 56: Kahlua in Ohio
Kahlua contains 20% alcohol in 49 states. But in Ohio, it is 21.5%. Weird, huh? Turns out regulations are the reason.
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Net Neutrality and Rent-Seeking
Net neutrality proposals give companies the incentive to seek rents at each other’s expense when they could be benefitting from each other’s innovations instead.
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The Economics of Net Neutrality
Over at the Washington Examiner's Opinion Zone, I apply what I learned back in Economics 101 to the net neutrality debate. It's all about scarcity.
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Funny, That
An article in today's New York Times laments the difficulty of "building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have…
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Regulation of the Day 55: Home Environmental Inspections
If cap and trade passes, almost all homes for sale would be required to undergo an environmental inspection. The home cannot be sold until it…
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Regulation of the Day 54: Shovelnose Sturgeon
Why does the Fish and Wildlife Service want to list it as a threatened species? Because it looks like the pallid sturgeon, which is currently…
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Regulation of the Day 53: Y2K
In which the case for regulatory sunset provisions is inadvertently made.
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Regulation of the Day 52: Bar Food
In Arlington County, Virginia, there exist twelve restaurants that are required to sell $350 of food per one gallon of liquor purchased from the Virginia…
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Obama Wants to Extend PATRIOT Act
One may be a Republican and the other a Democrat, but make no mistake. Bush and Obama are two peas in a pod.
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Bastiat on the Stimulus Package
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Regulation of the Day 51: Mandatory Hand Sanitizing
In Jersey City, New Jersey, the school district is requiring students to “sanitize their hands when they walk into the class in the morning, before…
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Regulation of the Day 50: Tires from China
The burden is on tariff supporters to explain why they think people who live in one country are more deserving of economic opportunity than people…
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To Heckle the President, or Not?
Politicians make themselves look bad far more effectively than any heckler could. They don’t need the help.
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Do Corporations Have Human Rights?
Intel’s defense in its EU antitrust case has taken the surprising line that the company’s human rights were violated. Over at Real Clear Markets, CEI…
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Regulation of the Day 49: Political Speech
If Congress can’t pass laws abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, maybe they can pass laws abridging the freedom of speech and…
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Regulation of the Day 48: Barbers in Nevada
Want to be a barber in Nevada? You’ll need to get a license first. One of the requirements is a chest X-ray, of all things.
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Regulation of the Day 47: Irish Potatoes
It is bad policy to keep perfectly good food off the market because of its shape, especially during times of recession and high food prices.
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Dog Bites Man
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Regulation of the Day 46: Chemical Weapons
If your company exports chemical weapons, make sure you keep good records. Every year, on company letterhead, you have to list ten things for the…