Politics

Temporary Policies Have Temporary Effects – And Sometimes That is Good News

1 Comment / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Recent research has revealed that the “cash for clunkers”-policy boost to car sales did little more than rush car sales that would have taken place over the following several months, and no evidence was found of broader economic effects on employment or home prices due to the so-called stimulus effects of the spending. …

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Will Faking a Consumer Cartel Help Make Power Markets More Efficient?

2 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Does the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) really want to go down this path? Do they really think that faking a consumer cartel will help make wholesale power markets work more efficiently? Consumers come to any market in pretty direct competition with each other. Suppliers are offering their goods and I would like …

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Taxpayers, Ratepayers, City Government, Municipal Utilities

Electricity, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Cities have taxpayers and monopoly utility companies have ratepayers. When the city owns the utility, the taxpayers are – more or less – the same group of people as the ratepayers. In this case, does it matter which group pays how much for what? Should, for example, the municipal utility buy vehicles for …

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The Fictional (And Extremely Unhealthy!) Big Rock Candy Mountain

1 Comment / Food and wine, Politics, Travel / By

Michael Giberson [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYGCpGzFWh0] From the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Kids Pages, an earnest warning – accompanying the lyrics to the song Big Rock Candy Mountain – not to be lead astray by the wild (and extremely unhealthy!) images conjured up by the songwriter Harry “Haywire Mac” McClintock: IMPORTANT REMINDERS ABOUT THE LYRICS: Mr. McClintock’s …

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New York Assembly Candidate Proposes to *really* Ban Zone Pricing This Time

Economics, Politics / By

Michael Giberson From Politics on the Hudson: Kaplowitz takes on Big Oil, says stronger ban on zone gasoline pricing could create a $1.3 billion “tax break” for New Yorkers. At a news conference today at 12:30 at the Shell Station in Bedford on the corner of Rt. 22 and Rt. 172, State Senate candidate Mike …

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The City Council Puts Lubbock’s New Municipal Electric Monopoly to Use

2 Comments / Electricity, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Are monopoly municipal electric utilities supposed to be treated like piggy banks by city councils?  For over 90 years Lubbock Texas has had two electric utilities serving the town – one regional state-regulated investor-owned utility (Xcel) and a municipal utility (LP&L). Both ran wires throughout the city and most customers could switch between the …

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Bootleggers and Baptists Alert: Riaa and Radio Broadcasters

1 Comment / Economics, Politics / By

Lynne Kiesling Bruce Yandle, call your office — it’s another bootleggers and Baptists alert! This time it’s RIAA and radio broadcasters, who usually are at loggerheads over things like song royalties but have found common cause and joined forces to lobby the FCC to mandate that all mobile devices have an FM receiver implanted in …

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A Post Which Isn’t About the Question Marks Swirling Around High Speed Rail

2 Comments / Liberty, Politics / By

Michael Giberson In a post that actually isn’t about the “question marks swirling around high speed rail,” Eric Morris quotes approvingly a remark from Randal O’Toole, a big fan of trains and also a big critic of public subsidies for trains: “I don’t expect taxpayers to subsidize these preferences any more than if I liked …

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