May 2005

Metering And Pricing Activate Electricity Demand In California

7 Comments / Economics, Electricity, Energy markets / By

Lynne Kiesling In today?s Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Smith writes about changes under way in California (sub. req.) that would enable the three investor-owned utilities to offer their customers sophisticated digital meters and pricing options. The initiative that Smith describes is the culmination of a joint PUC/Energy Commission effort over the past three years to …

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Should Young People Read Books?

Books / By

Michael Giberson Reading books chronically understimulates the senses. Unlike the longstanding tradition of gameplaying?which engages the child in a vivid, three-dimensional world filled with moving images and musical sound-scapes, navigated and controlled with complex muscular movements?books are simply a barren string of words on the page. . . . Books are also tragically isolating. While …

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Competition Lowers Prices? You Don’t Say!

Economics / By

Lynne Kiesling I do say! So does this this nifty little news story from northeastern Ohio. The story points out the importance of being able to compare prices, and how that transparency leads to the process of prices heading toward the competitive equilibrium. Hat tip: Division of Labour.

Eat Fat To Lose Fat?

3 Comments / Economics / By

Lynne Kiesling Obesity has been much in the news lately, with last month’s study that indicates prior CDC extreme overestimates of the negative effects of obesity. Economist Steven Levitt waggishly observed that the information made eating fatty foods cheaper. And on these very pages I mused about the French paradox. Today comes two interesting additions …

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The Value In Shifting Nox Emissions In Time And Space

5 Comments / Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson The EPA has implemented regulation of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions with a cap-and-trade market scheme that seeks to achieve environmental goals in a way that minimizes the costs of compliance. Regulated companies are required to have permits to cover the amount of pollution emitted ? a company with a low cost of compliance …

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Maryland State Official Requires Gasoline Stations To Raise Prices

2 Comments / Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson Have you noticed how low gasoline prices have been lately? No? Apparently you haven?t been paying attention. Fortunately, a representative of Burch Oil, which sells gasoline in Southern Maryland from Burchmart convenience stores, was paying attention. When prices dropped too low at gas stations down the street last week ? to 199.9 ? …

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The Economist On Kicking The Oil Habit

5 Comments / Economics, Energy markets / By

Lynne Kiesling Last week’s Economist had several articles on energy policy, including this lead article on US energy policy and the energy bill that passed the House. This article does a nice job of pointing out what’s obvious, but obviously can’t be reiterated often enough, because it persists: US energy policy is a deeply-meshed rat’s …

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