Archive for January 20th, 2004

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THE RIGHT TEAPOT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

January 20, 2004

Many thanks to Craig Newmark at Newmark’s Door for linking to this LA Times story about one woman’s quest for the perfect teapot. I, too, share this quest. The perfect teapot is

-clear, so you can monitor the steeping of the leaves
-dripless, with a spout that pours cleanly
-accompanied by an easy-to-clean infuser
-adaptable, to larger or smaller portions, and to the occasions on which one must be a heathen and use (gasp!) teabags

I concur with the author that the perfect teapot on these dimensions is the Bodum Assam pot, made of tempered glass and accompanied by a plastic infuser and, most importantly, a plunger lid. The plunger is crucial, because if you let the water stay in contact with the leaves too long (say, more than 3-4 minutes for most teas), then the bitter tannins come to the fore in the taste and make the tea unpalatable.

Plus the Bodum Assam pot is awfully cute!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

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BORDA COUNT AT T&B AND DA

January 20, 2004

As a welcome to fellow Chicagoan Ian Cook, I offer this link to his interesting and informative post on Borda count voting at Truck and Barter. I also recommend Steve Verdon’s post that got Ian thinking about this.

Borda presents us with an interesting dilemma when considering collective choice mechanisms: it has the problems that Ian and Steve discussed, but it does a better job than other mechanisms at communicating intensity of preference.

Anyway, thanks for the thought-provoking post, and welcome!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

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VIRGINIA’S HAYEK ARTICLE IS HOT

January 20, 2004

I know many of you have read Virginia Postrel’s article on Hayek in the Boston Globe, because as Virginia reports, it’s one of the most accessed articles from that day’s paper.

But if you have not yet read it, please do so. It reflects the ever-broadening view of the relevance of Hayek’s work in a range of social sciences:

Indeed, Hayek is increasingly recognized as one of the 20th century’s most profound and important theorists, one whose work included political theory, philosophy of science, even cognitive psychology. Citing the “proof of time,” Encyclopedia Britannica recently commissioned Caldwell to replace its formulaic 250-word Hayek profile with a nuanced discussion more than 10 times as long. Harvard has added him to the syllabus of Social Studies 10, its rigorous introductory social theory course.

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WHEN ENVIRONMENTAL INTERESTS CONFLICT

January 20, 2004

Wind power is good, right? Not if you’re a bird flying over the Altamont Pass in California. Now a group has filed a lawsuit over the birds killed by windmills in Altamont Pass.

This’ll be interesting …

Posted in Environmental policy | 2 Comments »

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UPDATE ON PENNSYLVANIA’S ELECTRICITY RESTRUCTURING

January 20, 2004

Five years ago, Pennsylvania was one of the policy leaders in pursuing electricity restructuring. My assessment of the Pennsylvania approach has been that although it has some flaws (such as regulated retail price caps that phase out over 10, count ‘em, 10, years), that they struck a good balance in their transition to more market-based policy approaches.

This article from yesterday’s Philadelphia Enquirer reaches a similar conclusion. The reduction in retail rates has been a boon to customers, and even though they are capped, they are capped at a level that still attracted supplier entry, to a certain extent. In fact, this precise point is listed as an area of restructuring that needs more work:

Alternative power suppliers have found it tough to make money here, because they can’t offer a better price than the utilities’ capped rates. The price caps are artificially saving consumers’ money, but are simultaneously deterring competition.

And the growth of choices, including green power, is a great thing.

But I am frustrated at the fact that the state’s consumer advocate has such a narrow-minded view of demand response and market-based retail pricing. Oh, we have a lot of work to do …

Posted in Electricity | Comments Off

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PRIVATIZATION WATCH ELECTRICITY ISSUE

January 20, 2004

The October 2003 issue of Reason’s Privatization Watch was a special electricity issue, featuring articles on demand response, the August blackout, and how technological change affects regulation. In particular, I’d like to draw your attention to two feature articles.

The first, by Vernon Smith, Stephen Rassenti, and Bart Wilson of the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science at George Mason University, analyzes demand response and market-based retail pricing of electricity as a crucial feature that must be integrated into restructuring in order for restructuring to succeed at delivering value to customers and energy companies alike. Using price to prioritize use, particularly during peak periods, reduces costs:

The fluctuation of consumption levels increases generation, transmission, and distribution costs. The capacity of all electrical facilities and their investment cost depends on peak, not average, consumption.

The second, by Ahmad Faruqui and Stephen George of Charles River Associates, describes the demand response initiatives being considered in California, under the auspices of the California Public Utility Commission and the California Energy Commission. They explore the range of initiatives and discuss some issues that the state will have to consider as they move toward the goal of meeting 5 percent of peak demand with dynamic pricing by 2007.

Posted in Electricity | Comments Off

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