Politics

Oil Markets Appear Unfazed by Announced Release of Oil from Strategic Reserves

4 Comments / Energy markets, Politics / By

Michael Giberson On June 23 the International Energy Agency announced the release of 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves held by member governments. Oil prices dipped for a day or two, then recovered more or less to pre-June 23 levels. Overall, it seems, the release merited a collective yawn from the markets. The …

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Antitrust As the Enemy of Innovation, and Therefore the Enemy of Consumers

2 Comments / Economics, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Antitrust regulators at the FTC have taken adverse interest in Google’s activities. At Regulation2point0, Robert Hahn and Peter Passel comment (links in original, highlighting added): … perhaps the FTC probe may prove to be just another minor bump on the road to riches. But there are reasons to believe that it will prove to …

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Fiesta Bowl Wants Money Back from Politicians

Politics, Professional sports / By

Michael Giberson In an actual episode of journalism, the Arizona Republic has been digging into the operations of the Fiesta Bowl, including, among other things, its lavish spending on state and local politicians. The Fiesta Bowl, which is negotiating with the Internal Revenue Service in an attempt to preserve its non-profit status, has concluded that …

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Congressman Called for Gas Relief

1 Comment / Energy markets, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Congressman Brian Higgins, of western New York, put out a press release last week welcoming the news that the Obama administration will release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (“Higgins Welcomes News of Oil Release: Congressman Called for Gas Relief Measure in April.”) The rest of the press release was a …

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They Can’t Even Pull off the Ethanol Subsidy Repeal …

4 Comments / Economics, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Lynne Kiesling Although the federal government is actually in a budget crisis and our elected so-called representatives claim to be dealing with it, they are acting rather like they are in denial, or still embroiled in such petty partisan bickering that they refuse to make difficult choices with short-run costs and long-run benefits. Take ethanol …

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Environmental Benefits from the Keystone Xl Pipeline

3 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson The National Wildlife Federation and other environmental groups have been lobbying against the Keystone XL pipeline proposal as a sort of proxy battle against production of crude oil from Canadian tar sands. Robert Hahn and Peter Passell suggest that, as the tar sands will be developed whether or not the pipeline is built, …

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Saying Goodbye to Edison’s Hot Little Light Bulb?

5 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Andrew Rice has a great little story in the New York Times Magazine on the upcoming phaseout of the incandescent light bulb. No, the incandescent bulb has not been “banned,” not exactly. It is just that, a few years ago, Congress agreed to raise energy efficiency standards for light bulbs effective January 1, …

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Price Gouging Op-ed Appears in the Washington Times

1 Comment / Economics, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson This morning’s Washington Times carries my op-ed on price gouging. You should run out and buy a copy at your local newsstand, call the editor with loads of praise, encourage him to solicit my views more frequently, etc. Alternatively, read the op-ed at the Times website and offer comments here, there, or both …

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Civil Liberties and Economics: More Than Just Free Markets

4 Comments / Economics, Liberty, Politics, Technology / By

Lynne Kiesling I wasn’t around KP a lot last week because I was spending a lot of time following the Patriot Act extension debacle and contacting my Congressional representatives to urge them to vote against it (of my so-called representatives, only Senator Durbin did so; I think this is the first time he and I …

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