Lynne Kiesling Michael Barone has an interesting column on Adam Smith as a political pundit. He riffs off of a quote from Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter 1, para. 199: In every civilized society, in every society where the distinction of ranks has once been completely established, there have been always two different schemes …
Adam Smith on the Politics of “People of Fashion” Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Like “price gouging”, “windfall profits” is an economic non-concept that rears its ugly head in the political machinations surrounding exogenous economic dislocations like national disasters. Senators Cantwell and Dorgan, who are sensible on some other, electricity-related, energy issues, really get it wrong here. Steve Chapman’s column on the topic points out the economic …
Lynne Kiesling OK, I know criticizing Dominique de Villepin is like shooting fish in a barrel, but this one really cries out for it: After threatening oil companies with a big tax grab, French petrol prices fell slightly and Dominique de Villepin pronounced it a step in the right direction but not enough. Meanwhile, he …
Lynne Kiesling In the little bit of the Roberts confirmation hearings I caught at the airport yesterday, I was struck by how much the Senators were talking. My first thought was that I, apparently erroneously, thought that the hearings were a chance to hear what he thinks. Silly, naive economist. When I got home, the …
Lynne Kiesling I am in DC at a GridWise Architecture Council meeting, so thinking about related things but too busy to post. More later.
Lynne Kiesling We wouldn’t have paid so much attention to this if it hadn’t happened in LA. Human error in this case was a maintenance worker not following procedures for reconnecting a wire that had been accidentally cut; reconnecting two lines at different voltages leads to power surge. Or at least that’s my non-engineer understanding …
Some Random Thoughts About Yesterday’s La Blackout Read More »
Lynne Kiesling One of the themes of post-Katrina punditry has been “why build a city below sea level and between three bodies of water?” Think about the history of the US, or for that matter, the Netherlands. The critical growth occurred at a time when waterways were the primary means of transportation (the 17th century …
Lynne Kiesling Kevin at Truck & Barter has a Q&A with himself on “price gouging”. Well worth the read; he summarizes the economic arguments nicely. Feel free to forward it to you member of Congress.
Lynne Kiesling Even though Skype proves that anyone can sell phone service and is being courted for acquisition, the stock of its main suitor, eBay, fell 4% today on the news of the potential union. J.P. Morgan weighed in on the possibility, saying it thinks the inclusion of voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, technology …
Lynne Kiesling Reason’s Adrian Moore discusses the binding constraint that is refinery capacity in the US in a commentary from the Orange County Register. Very good summary and analysis. Just a few new refineries would alleviate the problem and help keep our gas prices lower and steadier. But getting an oil refinery built is next …
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