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 …
Michael Giberson Thanksgiving Day should be remembered not just as a day when we give thanks for our abundance, but more deeply and historically why we have this abundance. In our Thanksgiving Day celebrations, let us therefore tell one another the true origins of the thanksgiving and the great economic lesson that the Pilgrims hoped …
Lynne Kiesling All of this Eric Holder gossip today unfortunately creates an opportunity for me to pick a grammatical nit: the plural of “attorney general” is “attorneys general”, not “attorney generals”. The “general” in “attorney general” is an adjective that modifies the noun “attorney”. The plural attaches to the noun, not the adjective. Bet you …
Michael Giberson Robert Rapier at R-Squared Energy Blog noticed the EIA showing gasoline inventories at their lowest levels since 1967, and because consumption rates are higher now than in 1967, he pointed out that “days of supply” in inventory is probably at its lowest level ever. Rapier comments: Someone asked during a panel discussion at …
Supply Problem + Price Gouging Law = Rationing Gas by Running out Read More »
Michael Giberson Mississippi has a price gouging law which allows the state government to prosecute businesses that raise prices on certain kinds of retail goods and services during a “state of emergency” (as officially declared by the state’s governor). Now the Mississippi Attorney General discovered that businesses were working around the legal barrier to price …
Lynne Kiesling Here’s my cynical, anti-authoritarian link of the day: the mayor of Clayton, California shut down a fruit stand run by two little girls because it was a commercial enterprise in an area not zoned for commerce. Hilariously, the mayor defends the decision to shut down this tiny lesson in capitalism, preferring to make …
Little Girl, You Need a License for That Fruit Stand Read More »
Michael Giberson Renewable energy mandates are often popular state polices. According to the US Department of Energy, 24 states and the District of Columbia have “renewable portfolio standards” (RPS) which requires that a minimum percentage of power consumed in the state come from renewable resources. Four other states have non-binding goals. (Wikipedia on RPS for …
Group Challenges Arizona Law Mandating Payments for Renewable Energy Supplies Read More »
Michael Giberson Arnold Kling has some interesting insights on what is sometimes pejoratively referred to as price gouging: One of the issues that [Russ Robert’s didactic novel, The Price of Everything] raises–the very first one, in fact–is the morality of raising prices when something becomes scarce, such as flashlights after a weather disaster. Russ makes …
On the Morality of Raising Prices in an Emergency Read More »
Michael Giberson Usually, with annual Spring price increases, we hear the perennial allegations of gasoline price gouging from politicians. Despite all the talk about high gasoline prices, there hasn’t been a lot of talk about price gouging this year. The precise meaning of the term “price gouging” is sometimes hard to pin down, but a …
Price Gouging: At the Intersection of Emotions, Ethics, and Economics Read More »
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