by Enrico Colombatto, Austrian Economics Center Even before Western governments decided to fight Covid-19 by freezing their economies and inflating their debts, many countries had problematic public finance situations. Now, public debt is soaring almost everywhere and dealing with it has become a major issue. The solution so far has been to resort […]
Tag: regulation
Texas Bill Would Require Wind and Solar to Pay to Ensure Electric Reliability
By Duggan Flanakin, heartlanddailynews.com Senate Bill 1278, sponsored by state Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-Fort Worth), would require Texas wind and solar companies to pay the costs for backup or supplemental power needed whenever they cannot deliver electricity reliably to the grid. Currently, those costs are imposed on ratepayers. The bill requires the […]
Washington Beyond the Headlines: An IRS on Steroids
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor Okay everybody, take five. Relax. We have become a nation obsessed with a rush to judgment, an immediate overreaction to almost everything. A policeman stops a teenage girl from knifing another teenage girl and a basketball star — a basketball star! — instantly tweets to attack him. Georgia […]
Sunlight Is The Cure For High Drug Prices
By Dr. Marion Mass Congress is considering legislation to rein in runaway drug prices. But any new law would be just political theater unless it shines a light on how pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) manipulate drug pricing. We soothe ourselves with slogans about America’s free-market health care. The reality is very different. […]
Washington’s New General in Its Antitrust War
By Edward Longe, American Consumer Institute Shortly after entering office in January 2021, President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Lina Kahn to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Responding to the announcement, the FTC’s Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter stated, “her creative energy, groundbreaking antitrust work, and passion for the FTC’s mission make her an excellent […]
Blackouts, Increasing Crime, Rampant Homelessness, And Man-Made Drought: Is This California Or A Third World Nation?
By Kerry Jackson, Pacific Research Institute While still trying to process the unwelcome news that we’re going to have to grind through yet another year of drought, California energy officials told us to also be ready for the power to go out when the days grow long and warm. “The managers of […]
Masking: A Careful Review of the Evidence
By Paul E. Alexander The question on whether to wear a face mask or not during the Covid-19 pandemic remains emotional and contentious. Why? This question about the utility of face coverings (which has taken on a talisman-like life) is now overwrought with steep politicization regardless of political affiliation (e.g. republican or liberal/democrat). Importantly, […]
Will the United Kingdom Survive the United Kingdom Internal Market Act?
By Professor Stephen Weatherwill The EU has an ‘internal market’. So do Canada, Australia, the United States and Germany. And now, with the enactment of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the United Kingdom has one too. The Act was drafted, debated and adopted with blistering speed during 2020, from a […]
Who Lives in Rural Areas?
By Randal O’Toole, Cato Institute One of the provisions of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan is to spend $100 billion bringing broadband internet services to “more than 30 million Americans” who live in rural “areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds.” That’s $3,333 per person or about $8,800 […]
In Defense of the Freelancer
By Bill Wirtz The European Commission is setting itself up for creating new legislation regarding freelance work. In many European countries, services such as Uber, Bolt, or Deliveroo are coming under fire because they practice working with freelancers. For instance, the Uber app matches passengers with self-employed drivers.. The driver gets the fare […]