“Briefing: Free Trade and the Agriculture Bill 2019-21” Courtesy of the TaxPayers’ Alliance In recent decades, global food trade has liberalised substantially. According to the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, Britain imports 47 per cent of its food, 19 per cent coming from outside the European Union. This means that, no matter […]
Tag: prices
The COVID Crisis Shows American Resilience at Its Finest
By Oliver McPherson-Smith, American Consumer Institute With the nation in shut down until April 30, most Americans are enduring an unprecedented disruption to their daily routines. To make safe social distancing possible, however, countless workers continue to keep supply chains moving. In addition to the frontline medical professionals who are treating COVID-19 patients, it […]
Are Solar Panel Mandates Helping Consumers Save Money?
By Krisztina Pusok and Ana Diaz, American Consumer Institute California’s solar energy mandate was officially implemented at the beginning of this year, making the Golden state the first in the nation to implement a law that obligates all newly constructed houses to have solar panels. Hawaii, Arizona, Maryland, and other states have announced they will follow suit. While […]
Dump certificate-of-need laws to boost healthcare competition
“Florida Points the Way Toward Increasing Competition Among Its Healthcare Providers” By Davis Warnell, courtesy of the Mercatus Center Did you know that in many states, healthcare providers need to obtain government permission before rolling out new services or technologies? It sounds nonsensical, but these requirements, known as certificate-of-need (CON) regulations, exist […]
Why does Switzerland have sugar subsidies? Why does anyone?
“Sweet temptation” By Dr. Patrick Dümmler, courtesy of Avenir Suisse Something consumed by lots of people every day should never be in short supply, even in a crisis — or so the thinking goes. The Swiss Confederation therefore requires selected sectors to engage in stockpiling, in order to be able to ensure continued […]
The debate over industrial policy ended… 35 years ago
By Erik Sass, TES Editor-in-Chief The rise of populism has brought with it the return of statism in the economic sphere, especially regarding international trade, where previous moves towards freer trade have been roundly rejected in favor of old-fashioned mercantilism and bilateral brinksmanship. Another aspect of the economic déjà vu is […]
Minimum wage hike led to less working time, higher prices in Germany
“Four years statutory minimum wage – an overview of the most important research findings” Courtesy of IAB It was the most radical reform of the German labor market since Agenda 2010: the introduction of the statutory minimum wage in 2015. At that time, science and practice contradicted each other in partly diametrically opposed […]
Hey Congress, drug price controls are still a bad idea
Bad ideas have a way of sticking around , but fortunately there’s a home for them called Congress. The recently proposed legislation on drug prices is firmly in this category, relying on what are in effect government-imposed price controls, backed by the threat of […]