Michael Giberson From the memo of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force: Based upon our work and research to date, it is evident that there are regional differences in gasoline prices, as well as differences in the statutory and other legal tools at the government ‘ s disposal. I don’t …
Lynne Kiesling Following up on Mike’s post yesterday about pandering politicians and their 2011 edition of the recurring petroleum price witch hunt … Others have weighed in on the idiocy of this “Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group”. Let’s start with KP’s go-to energy finance economist, Craig Pirrong: … it’s an opportunistic effort to …
Michael Giberson The Free Dictionary defines pandering as, among other things, “To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses.” Here is a new example of the common political variant of pandering: The newly organized federal Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group. Consumers don’t like high gasoline prices and …
Michael Giberson Last Friday, April 15, 2011, Mark Edge, of the Free Talk Live radio show, interviewed me on price gouging. Generally speaking, we discuss the recent article on price gouging appearing in Regulation magazine, and we agree that even if price hikes after emergencies are troubling, there just isn’t a better way to manage …
Michael Giberson A story reported by Kim Barker, ProPublica (a version of the story ran in the Washington Post). I’m excerpting several parts of the story, but the whole story is worth a look: The oil spill that was once expected to bring economic ruin to the Gulf Coast appears to have delivered something entirely …
Gusher of BP Oil-spill Fund Creates “Spillionaires” Read More »
Lynne Kiesling As we contemplate an impending federal government shutdown and the restriction of government activities to “essential” services, shouldn’t we be asking deeper questions like why we spend so much taxpayer money on “nonessential” services? Jacob Sullum asks that question in Reason and provides some arguments for reducing spending (and thereby the future deficit) …
Government Shutdown: Shouldn’t We Be Asking Some Deeper Questions? Read More »
Michael Giberson Last November we noted that industry and environmental groups in Texas were working together on fracking disclosure rules. Earlier this month a bill was introduced in the Texas House that would establish disclosure rules for fracking fluids. Kate Galbraith reports in The Texas Tribune, “Texas Could Require Disclosure of Drilling Chemicals“: Hydraulic fracturing, an …
Update: Industry, Environmental Group Working on Shale Gas Drilling Rules Read More »
Michael Giberson And if Andrew Kleit thinks that the Pennsylvania state government is toying with a bad idea (see previous post), look what is going on next door in New Jersey and Maryland. In New Jersey: “Utilities challenge New Jersey law while preparing to reap its benefits.” In January the Governor signed a law which …
Meanwhile, More “Power Market and the State” Battles in New Jersey and Maryland Read More »
Michael Giberson The Spring 2011 issue of Regulation magazine carries my article, “The Problem with Price Gouging Laws.” One bit: Economists and policy analysts opposed to price gouging laws have relied on the simple logic of price controls: if you cap price increases during an emergency, you discourage conservation of needed goods at exactly the time they are in …
Lynne Kiesling I know that pointing out the economic illiteracy of politicians is akin to shooting fish in a barrel, but I have an irrationally optimistic hope that shining a light on such illiteracy will help reduce it. Today’s economic illiterate is U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who in an interview with Ezra Klein …
Economic Illiteracy Alert of the Day: Ag. Secretary Tom Vilsack Read More »
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