“U.S. Ferry Systems Soaked by Maritime Protectionism” By Colin Grabow, courtesy of the Cato Institute Some of the country’s leading ferry systems are facing an increasingly precarious outlook. In Alaska, questions loom over the state‐run ferry system’s future after the governor and legislature last year endorsed paring back massive subsidies needed to keep it afloat. In Washington state, […]
Tag: bad ideas
Agricultural labor law’s “touchback” provisions make absolutely no sense
“The H‑2A Touchback Requirement Makes No Economic or Security Sense” By David Bier, courtesy of the Cato Institute The House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 5038) last month. The House bill made some improvements to the H-2A program, which allows farmers to hire foreign guest workers, but it incorporated […]
Renationalization would be a huge mistake (again)
“Renationalisation would ‘ignore the lessons of history’, finds new IEA report” Courtesy of the IEA Calls to bring key utilities back under state control “ignore important lessons” from the post-war period, argues a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs published today. Renationalisation: Back to the Future, written by IEA […]
Importing Bad Ideas: Let’s Not
“Foreign reference pricing” is just price controls by the backdoor The world is full of bad ideas that self-interested parties sometimes try to bring to these shores, swearing up and down they’re actually good: karaoke, kale, Neti pots, the Yugo, the Macarena, Gerard Depardieu — the list goes on. To this hall of shame must […]
Deja vu, all over again
By Emilio Ocampo, Board Member, Libertad y Progreso (original) Déjà vu, groundhog day, a nagging feeling that you have already experienced the present. These are expressions everybody seems to be using these days to describe the current Argentine crisis. Below is some confirmatory evidence that Yogi Berra’s most quoted aphorism is always applicable in […]
Yes, a financial transaction tax is an awful idea
A tax on financial transactions has long been a popular idea on the far left, with the latest proposal for a levy on transactions coming from UK’s Labour Party under the leadership of the unreconstructed Marxist Jeremy Corbyn. However the proposal is a spectacularly […]
U.S. consumers paying price for tariffs
Donald Trump’s decision to escalate the trade war with China is counter-productive, harmful to American consumers, and could even derail the stock market, argues Young Voices contributor Charlie Gers in his recent op-ed in The OC Register. Gers notes the results of a recent report from a raft of economists warning […]
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? More Politicians Meddling With Central Banks
It’s not like politicians mucking with credit ever resulted in disaster before, right? RIGHT? Well anyhoo, it’s happening again, as politicians of all stripes and convictions (or lack thereof) lay siege to central banks with the help of pundits and other economic experts. That prompted a moderately alarming warning from ratings agency Fitch, which […]