OPINION
DON BOUDREAUX: “The Twistocracy”
“[U.S. Senator Kirsten] Gillibrand (D-NY) said: ‘The power to decide whether or not to use contraception lies with a woman – not her boss. What is more intrusive than trying to allow an employer to make medical decisions for someone who works for them?‘ The twisted logic underlying Ms. Gillibrand’s worldview is stunning. First she wants to collectivize health-care funding. Second, she then expresses indignance that express orders by the state on how private parties spend their funds are resisted by those private parties. And third, she parades her indignance as being a defense of private spheres of actions that ought not be intruded into by outsiders!”
PETER SCHWEIZER: “Warren Buffett: Baptist and Bootlegger”
“Warren Buffett is very much a political entrepreneur; his best investments are often in political relationships. In recent years, Buffett has used taxpayer money as a vehicle to even greater profit and wealth. Indeed, the success of some of his biggest bets and the profitability of some of his largest investments rely on government largesse and “coddling” with taxpayer money.”
KATY WALDMAN: “Uncle Sam Is Not Coming For Dinner”
“America is fat, but Americans disagree about what this means. Either the country’s obesity rates—one third of all adults are obese—are a dangerous health crisis, or they show that the nation is healthier and wealthier than ever. Either the government must act immediately to curb our waistlines, or we must act to curb our bloated government. These were the questions debated in NYU’s Skirball Center last night at theSlate/Intelligence Squared live debate, in which four health and policy experts argued the motion that “Obesity is the government’s business.””
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OPINION
MARK BUCHANAN: “A Bar May Be The Place to Understand Markets”
“Economists have wondered for decades why markets have ‘excess volatility’ — that is, why prices move up and down more than they should by any sensible reckoning of assets’ fundamental value. [...] Imagine a college bar with music and cheap drinks every Thursday night. Naturally, lots of students want to go. Trouble is, it’s a tiny place, and they will enjoy it only if 60 percent or fewer of them go. Otherwise, they will suffer miserably in the cramped heat. Hence, each week, every student faces a tricky decision: How to do what most other people will not do.”
FARHAD MANJOO: “The Thermostat Wars”
“Late last year Tony Fadell, the guy who created the iPod at Apple, launched Nest, a new company that aims to reinvent household devices. Nest’s first product is a beautiful, easy-to-use, $249 ‘learning thermostat.’ It launched to rave reviews, and sold out instantly. [...] Honeywell filed a wide-ranging patent infringement suit against Nest, alleging that the startup used seven different Honeywell inventions. [...] The Honeywell v. Nest lawsuit is being justifiably criticized as another black mark on our broken patent system. If Honeywell invented all these cool features, why didn’t it make something of them?”
MARK CALABRIA: “Bernanke’s Anti-Stimulus”
“One of the direct results of the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policies has been a massive reduction in interest income going to households. Since 2008, household interest income has fallen by about $400 billion annually. That’s $400 billion each year that families have not had to spend.”
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OPINION
SEN. ROB PORTMAN and SEN. MARK PRYOR: “A Push for Smart Regulations”
“The Regulatory Accountability Act, which we introduced along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), would set the stage for lower-cost rules, greater transparency and a more stable regulatory environment for job creation and investment. First, drawing on executive orders by presidents of both parties over three decades, our legislation requires agencies to evaluate the costs and benefits of proposed regulations; consider the potential effect on jobs and the economy and choose the least burdensome approach that accomplishes the intended policy goals.”
BEN BAJARIN: “Why Technology and Innovation Are Critical to America’s Future”
“While much technological innovation has taken place in the past 30 years, I believe that we’re just now at the beginning stages of one of the most technologically innovative time periods in our world’s history. It’s important that we ensure the new technological advancements, technology companies and innovations come from the United States.”
NEW YORK POST EDITORIAL: “Curb the Pensions!”
“The unions may be dead set against it, but New Yorkers overwhelmingly support a new pension system for future government employees. [...] Cuomo’s proposal is simple: Let new state and local hires pick between a traditional, but slightly less generous, pension and a 401(k)-style savings plan. Most private-sector workers don’t even get such a choice — but the unions were quick to denounce it as ‘an assault on the middle class.’”
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OPINION
STEVEN HORWITZ: “Creating Jobs Versus Creating Value”
“Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet. And rightfully so, since he often says ridiculous things that demand a response from those who understand basic economics better than he does, despite his having won a Nobel Prize. His January 26 column has him, once again, making such an argument. This time it’s on the subject of job creation.”
CECIL ADAMS: “Your Light Bulb Questions Answered”
“1. Although halogen bulbs don’t offer much of an energy savings over ordinary incandescents, compact fluorescents sure do, and you’d be a fool not to use them whenever you could. Me, I’ve got ‘em all over the house, including right here in the desk lamp.
2. Telling me I have to use them — production and import of conventional 100-watt incandescent bulbs were effectively banned Jan. 1– is a pointless intrusion on my personal rights.”
NANCY SCOLA: “Interview with Aneesh Chopra”
“When the president needs advice on technology policy, he calls on Aneesh Chopra. As the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States, a post created by Barack Obama as the manifestation of a campaign promise, Chopra is charged with advising the president about where technology and innovation can spur job growth, boost industry, and improve quality of life for 21st century Americans when it comes to energy, education, health care, and more.”
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CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blog posts from CEI’s fellows and associates sent out via e-mail every Friday. Also included in the weekly newsletter is a brief description of CEI’s weekly podcast and a feature on a major CEI breakthrough made during the week. To sign up for CEI Weekly, go to http://cei.org/newsletters.
CEI Weekly
February 3, 2012
>> Featured Story
In 2011, CEI labor policy analysts created the Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index to measure the influence of union lobbyists on state governments. The purpose of the Index was to educate lawmakers and taxpayers about union handouts at the state level. Now, in early 2012, the Index is certainly making a difference: Oklahoma Senator David Holt is introducing legislation to empower Oklahoma taxpayers, citing his state’s poor ranking on CEI’s Index. Read Research Associate Jack Mann’s OpenMarket commentary on Sen. Holt’s announcement for more details.
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OPINION
ADAM SNEED: “The Wrong Way to Monitor Internet Cafes for Terrorists”
“If you’ve ever cared about privacy while using the Internet in public, you might be a terrorist. At least that’s the message from the FBI and Justice Department’s Communities Against Terrorism initiative. The project created flyers to help employees at several types of businesses—including military surplus stores, financial institutions, and even tattoo shops—recognize “warning signs” of terrorism or extremism. An admirable goal, perhaps, but the execution is flawed—particularly for the flyers intended to help suss out terrorists using Internet cafes.”
KYLE SMITH: “What If Barack Obama and Paul Krugman Ran a Business?”
“So let’s consider how American businesses might be run if Obama and his allies were CEOs. We’ll begin from scratch. What kind of business shall we launch? Clearly it should be domestic manufacturing, because our goal is to create lots of jobs for the middle and working classes. Our company can’t be something hollow like Apple or Nike, which create a few white-collar jobs for engineers, designers and marketers but make their products overseas. Moreover, as we are people of conscience, we will place profit considerations behind doing good for the community.”
THOMAS SARGENT: “An American History Lesson for Europe”
“In 1789, the political price for our federal constitution included a bailout of the 13 indebted states. But it was by refusing to bail out the states a second time in the 1840s that the United States preserved its federal system, with substantial fiscal independence for state governments. Facing a similar moment, Europe might learn from our experience.”
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OPINION
JAMES PERON: “Why Libertarians Need to Talk to the Left and How to Do It”
“A local libertarian party group once complained to me that the gay community never showed interest in them. A few months later, the Pride festival was coming up and I suggested having a libertarian booth there. I said I would pay half the cost. They rejected the idea as too expensive, which I found that odd since every month they set up booths costing similar sums at gun shows with smaller attendance. [...] Why? Because they are infected with what I call “Me-Libertarianism,” that myopic kind of libertarianism that only sees issues as important if they impact the typical libertarian. Who is that typical libertarian? A middle-aged, white, heterosexual male. Issues that don’t impact that demographic just aren’t important and many bluntly tell you so. Abortion rights aren’t important. Immigration isn’t important. Equality of rights for gay people isn’t important. They just ignore all those issues because they don’t impact them.”
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA: “What Is Governance?”
“The beginning point of the project is definition of governance that excludes the degree to which governments are either democratic or subject to a rule of law that constrains the executive. The reason for this is simple: it seems obvious to me that countries can be better or worse governed regardless of whether they are liberal democracies or not. Singapore is not Zimbabwe, despite the fact that neither is democratic. Separating the quality of the state from either the rule of law or democratic accountability is one of the foundational ideas in The Origins of Political Order. The reason I want to make this separation is to then be able to empirically evaluate the relationship of governance to democracy and the rule of law.”
PETER ORSZAG: “Fracking Boom Could Finally Cap Peak Oil Myth”
“The U.S. oil market could be on the verge of its own fracking revolution, similar to what the natural-gas market is already experiencing. As a result, domestic production is now projected to rise significantly over the coming decades, reducing the relative share of imports in U.S. oil consumption.”
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OPINION
SANJIV AHUJA: “Lost in D.C.’s Iron Triangle”
“LightSquared, encouraged by the Federal Communications Commission under both the Obama and Bush administrations, has spent billions building a new wireless broadband network on parts of the spectrum we legally own. [...] But then last year, the Space Based Positioning Navigation and Timing Executive Committee was asked to evaluate our plans. This government panel was created in 2004 to guide GPS policy, and we believe it has been captured by the GPS industry. For example, the vice chairman of the committee’s advisory board sits on the board of directors of a GPS company that has spent more than a million dollars lobbying against LightSquared’s technology.”
ANDREW COHEN: “Quietly, U.S. Moves to Block Lawsuits From Military Families”
“Politicians and bureaucrats of all persuasions typically trip over themselves when it comes to praising the values and virtues, the courage and the sacrifice, of America’s military families. [...] But while public officials are out waving the flag toward these families, federal lawyers in court are now quietly trying to expand the U.S. government’s legal immunity from exposure to medical malpractice claims brought by those very same military folks. Now, the feds want the courts to recognize a bold application of an old doctrine — an already heavily criticized old doctrine — that would bar many plaintiffs, whose loved ones serve their country, from exercising the right merely to be able to present the substance of their claims at trial.”
GLENN GARVIN: “Stop Bothering the Fed, You Peasant Taxpayers!”
“Breaking news: When it came to the collapse of the bubble that touched off the 2008 meltdown of the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve was a placid herd of clueless blockheads. Less than two years before the housing market turned kamikaze, Fed officials were gathering around conference rooms congratulating one another on what a genius job they were doing managing the economy.”
OPINION
MARK P. MILLS & JULIO M. OTTINO: “The Coming Tech-Led Boom”
“In January 1912, the United States emerged from a two-year recession. Nineteen more followed—along with a century of phenomenal economic growth. Americans in real terms are 700% wealthier today. [...] In January 2012, we sit again on the cusp of three grand technological transformations with the potential to rival that of the past century. All find their epicenters in America: big data, smart manufacturing and the wireless revolution.”
NICK GILLESPIE & MATT WELCH: “Learning From Kodak’s Demise”
“The human brain is capable of memorizing 67,890 digits of pi, composing side two of Exile on Main Street, and inventing a dog-to-human translation device called the Bowlingual. Yet, we often-brilliant, always-innovating bipeds find it impossible to imagine changing the trajectory of the world we think we live in by more than a few degrees at any given moment. Whatever dominates today we assume will dominate tomorrow. This is true for our private lives, this is true for commerce, and this is especially true for politics.”
ALICE G. WALTON: “Cell Phones Are More Annoying Than They Are Dangerous”
“With increased use come questions concerning the safety of these mobile devices. Many have been concerned, or even panicked, over the possibility of cell phones increasing one’s risk for brain cancer. Also disturbing is the fact that people are talking — or perhaps worse, texting (DOC) — while driving, and getting into accidents because of it. And then there’s sexting, which has a ‘reputation as a teenage pastime,’ according to the New York Times. Brain tumors, car accidents, and virtual sex contact: Cell phones seem to carry a wealth of hazards. However — and there may still be some lingering questions — more studies are coming in to suggest that cell phones aren’t as strongly connected with any of these phenomena as we once thought. ”
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