Lynne Kiesling Tom Friedman and Don Boudreaux are making different, but complementary, arguments against the auto bailout. If you think that you recognize Tom Friedman’s argument in his most recent NYT column, you should: he is analyzing Better Place and its business model, which I did in this post from December 5. One important point …
Tom Friedman and Don Boudreaux: Arguments Against the Auto Bailout Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Yesterday when I was channeling my inner Jenny Holzer on the relationship between political power and corruption, I quoted James Madison in the comments: In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige …
More on Constitutional Institutional Design and Corruption Read More »
Michael Giberson In the news, reports that Steven Chu will be nominated to become the next U.S. Secretary of Energy. Chu, a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1997, has been Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since August, 2004. Tom Fowler at Newswatch: Energy observes that “Saying ‘the University of California-Berkeley’ and ‘U.S. …
Lynne Kiesling I was in Texas on Tuesday for a meeting with an electricity retailer, and when the CEO came in and greeted me with “nice to see you again; did you hear that your governor was just arrested?”, I thought it was fallout from the long-standing investigation of Illinois political corruption that the U.S. …
Lynne Kiesling The KP Spouse and I have evolved a new rule over the course of the succession of fall bailout fiascos: whenever Barney Frank argues for something, the economically sensible and correct public policy is to do precisely the opposite of what he advocates.
Michael Giberson What does experimental economics have to say about asset market bubbles? Virginia Postrel provides an excellent (brief, readable, substantive) overview and interpretation in the December 2008 issue of the Atlantic.
Michael Giberson “Energy czar” is a term with a pedigree in the United States, being applied at least as early as December 1973 to William E. Simon, who Nixon appointed to head the Federal Energy Administration. The Time article in the link observes that Simon was advocating a 50 mph national speed limit and a …
Notes on “Energy Czar”; a Reading Recommendation for the “Car Czar” Read More »
Michael Giberson What is with all of the czar talk? Most prominently in the news: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touted the notion of a ‘car czar’ Tuesday to supervise an auto industry bailout, saying Big Three executives haven’t adapted well to changing conditions,” reports the Associated Press. Who wants a czar? I believe the appropriate …
Lynne Kiesling Last Monday Mike asked “do you know what the car company of the future should look like?” The various politicians and bureaucrats who have been wrangling over the auto bailout requests think they do. The management of the “Big Three” have a vision that their shareholders have authorized them to pursue, but for …
Bailouts and Stimuli: the Hubris of Centralized Control Read More »
Lynne Kiesling One of the most fascinating cases in environmental economics and business is Walmart. Over the past five years, Walmart has turned their famous supply-chain management sights on reducing the environmental impact of the products they sell while still keeping their costs, and therefore retail prices, as low as before. This Fortune magazine article …
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