May 2009

No Regulator Has or Will Have the Information, Expertise, or Esp Required to Do This

3 Comments / Economics, Energy markets, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson The title is lifted directly out of Craig Pirrong’s post on the Treasury departments proposal to “crack down on off-exchange trading of exotic financial instruments blamed for sparking last year’s crisis” (in the words of yesterday’s WSJ article). The Treasury wants derivatives contracts that commonly trade over-the-counter to trade through a centralized clearinghouse …

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The Bicycle Paved the Road for Automobiles

5 Comments / Economic history, Environmental policy, Technology / By

Michael Giberson From Inventing Green, where WIRED writer Alexis Madrigal is blogging his research notes for a forthcoming book The History of Our Future, a discussion of how bicycling may have given the internal combustion engine an early leg up in its competition against steam and electric-powered automobiles (and eventually made the roads unsafe for …

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Perennial Gale of Creative Destruction, Personal Wireless Division

7 Comments / Economics, Technology, Telecom / By

Lynne Kiesling Even if it doesn’t end up being the disruptive innovation that these articles suggest, Verizon’s MiFI personal wifi hotspot device makes my little Schumpeterian heart go pitter-pat. Released yesterday, the Verizon MiFi (device by Novatel) is a credit-card sized 3G wireless router that can provide wireless Internet connection for up to 5 devices. …

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Gasoline Retailer Opposes a Zone Pricing Ban in Connecticut

3 Comments / Energy markets, Politics / By

Michael Giberson An effective zone pricing ban in Connecticut would have the effect of equalizing the wholesale price to gasoline retailers in the state. As such, it would benefit some retailers and harm others. TheDay.com presents commentary from an owner of a retail gasoline station who expects to be harmed by the zone pricing ban …

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Where I Am Not Shopping for Alcohol in Lubbock, Texas

Economics, Food and wine, Politics / By

Michael Giberson From the Pinkies website: Tom “Pinkie” Roden established Pinkie’s back in 1934, less than one year after the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified (by an extraordinary 73%), ending 14 years of prohibition. Carrying on the work that Pinkie started back in 1934, we have grown into a chain of fifteen wine …

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Congressman to Western New York Gasoline Retailers: We Will Be Watching You

Energy markets, Politics / By

Michael Giberson From the Buffalo, New York, BusinessFirst: In a letter sent May 13 by FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz to Higgins, the agency said after a careful and extensive investigation, regulators could not find any evidence of illegal activity in gasoline markets in any of the affected cities. The agency monitored prices in Buffalo, Jamestown, …

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2009 Energy Efficiency Indicator Survey

Economics, Electricity, Technology / By

Lynne Kiesling Johnson Controls and the International Facilities Management Association have released their third annual Energy Efficiency Indicator survey. As summarized in this GreenBiz article, More than 70 percent of respondents are paying more attention to energy efficiency now than they were in 2008. Eighty-five percent of executives believe significant legislation mandating energy efficiency and/or …

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Sorting out Some Claims About Danish Wind Power

5 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Politics / By

Michael Giberson A shortened version of Michael Trebilcock’s commentary on wind power, mentioned here the other day, was published in the Financial Post under the not so subtle title of, “Wind power is a complete disaster.” The Financial Post subsequently published a reply by Sigurd Lauge Pedersen, a Senior Adviser to the Danish Energy Agency: …

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