Bandwidth Flood, Ethanol Victims and Insurance Mandates
Politicians debate the possibility of requiring Americans to purchase health insurance.
Ethanol mandates continue to raise prices on agricultural producers around the country.
Internet experts warn of a bandwidth crunch caused by an explosion of online video content.
1. TECHNOLOGY
Internet experts warn of a bandwidth crunch caused by an explosion of online video content.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on how calls for “net neutrality” would make it even more difficult to meet future bandwidth needs:
“Cable and DSL speeds are a trickle compared to the Niagara needed tomorrow, before even addressing the security and delivery requirements vastly beyond today’s capabilities. Freezing today’s Internet into a regulated public utility via net neutrality’s price-and-entry regulation would obviously slow investment and innovation—meaning fewer new companies, networking deals, products and technologies—but will ultimately hurt content companies too.”
2. BUSINESS
Ethanol mandates continue to raise prices on agricultural producers around the country.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith on the impact of higher corn prices:
“Over the last year, we’ve heard a lot about rising food prices because of the federal government’s mandates and subsidies for corn-based ethanol. Here’s some more fallout – a major company closing a major plant with 1100 lost jobs resulting. The country’s largest chicken producer, Pilgrim’s Pride, on Wednesday said it is closing its chicken processing plant in Siler City, NC, with 830 employees, and distribution centers in five other states. The company’s CEO attributed the problems directly to government ethanol policy.”
3. CONSUMER
Politicians debate the possibility of requiring Americans to purchase health insurance.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Ned Andrews on how insurance mandates hurt consumers:
“…coverage mandates increase premiums because they create artificial demand, forcing customers to insure against particular risks they would rather bear on their own. They also make some types of coverage unaffordable by disallowing offerings that would be aimed at different types of consumers in a free market. In some cases, customers who could afford to insure against a smaller set of risks selected a la carte may be unable to afford a mandated, one-size-fits-all package deal.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
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