17 Feb 2008
When Does a Normal Phenomenon Equal a Crisis?
The declining ranks of nuclear forensics experts
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Economics
The Washington Post reports today that the ranks of experts in nuclear weapons forensics is declining, and that the situation requires immediate action by government to avoid a crisis. More...
6 Nov 2007
The Economics of Cell-Phone Jammers:
A case study in government misallocation of property rights
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy
New York Times reporter Matt Richtel seems to have set off a pandemic news stories and commentaries with his profile of "otherwise respectable people" who use jamming devices to illegally obstruct the cell phone conversations of people nearby. Based on groundswell of support that appears to have formed for jammers, this looks like a problem worthy of a small amount of economic analysis
As it happens, there are simple market-based solutions. The real problem is that the federal government has preempted them by disallowing market forces to work. One thing should be clear: jammers have appeared on the market because there is considerable consumer demand for them. That means there used to be a "market failure," and this market failure will persists as long the federal government insists on sustaining it. More...
