Lynne Kiesling Adam Thierer has a lovely post that’s a good tribute to Fred Kahn, the legendary regulatory economist who, among other things, did the politically unthinkable: he recommended the closure of the agency of which he was head at the time (Civil Aeronautics Board), thus ushering in airline deregulation in the late 1970s. His …
Michael Giberson The thunderstorms that tore up the Mid-Atlantic at the end of June left many thousands of people without power, sometimes for several days, during some unusually hot early summer weather. Among other things, the aftermath has been filled with price gouging complaints directed at hotels, gasoline stations, and retailers selling ice (and another). Maryland …
Price Gouging Worries in the Aftermath of Mid-atlantic Thunderstorms, Power Outages Read More »
Michael Giberson In the comments on yesterday’s post on the Jevons Paradox, Rick Lightburn notes an article on the rebound effect by the Rocky Mountain Institute, “The ‘Rebound Effect’: A Perennial Controversy Rises Again” (and see a follow up on the RMI blog). The RMI article links to and responds to, among other things, a comprehensive …
Michael Giberson Given the preponderance of government energy policies aimed at promoting technical efficiency, a careful consideration of the Jevons Paradox is in order. I’ve spent some time this summer reading about William Stanley Jevons, one of the three 19th-century economists co-credited with sparking the marginal revolution, and especially Jevon’s book The Coal Question. Most recently I’ve …
Efficiency, Conservation, and the Inescapable Jevons Paradox Read More »
Michael Giberson The bill isn’t signed into law yet, but New Jersey solar installers are probably breathing a little easier given reports that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to sign a law that would boost the state’s electric utility’s solar power purchase obligation from about one-half of one percent to over two percent …
Lynne Kiesling For much of the past year I’ve been thinking about experimentation and the role that experimentation plays in economic activity and value creation; my post on Jim Manzi’s book earlier this week is in keeping with my interest in this topic. When I reflect on the processes of value creation and economic change …
Economic Experimentation, Economic Growth, and Regulation Read More »
Michael Giberson Boone Pickens, among others, has been hot to have Congress devote taxpayers money to rolling out natural gas vehicles and refueling stations as a way of encouraging long-distance trucking companies and other folk to convert their fleets from diesel fuel to natural gas. A report produced by energy consulting group IHS CERA concludes …
The Natural Gas Revolution Need Not Be Subsidized Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Think consciously about a decision you contemplated recently. As you were weighing your options, how much did you really know that you could bring to bear, definitively, on your decision? Was the outcome pre-determined, or was it unknown to you? For most of the decision-making situations we confront regularly, we don’t have full …
Experimentation, Jim Manzi, and Regulation/deregulation Read More »
Michael Giberson In the Christian Science Monitor, Robert Rapier wishes for a stable energy policy. It is an attractive idea. After all, policy uncertainty plays havoc with the ability of investors, managers, workers and consumers to coordinate plans in ways that usually work to make us all better off. He provides three examples–the production tax credit …
Not Your Grandfather’s Dysfunctional Energy Policy Read More »
Michael Giberson Jeremy’s Blog at LDSLiberty.org comments on a price gouging episode in The Long Winter, the sixth book in the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Due to a long winter of snow and storms, the people in the town of De Smet are at the point of starving. Suddenly …
Price Gouging in Literature: Little House on the Prairie’s “The Long Winter” Read More »
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