2 May 2008
Gas Tax Holidays...
...and how they conflict with the candidates' energy policy proposals
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Economics
Recently, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have proposed a "gas tax holiday" in which the federal government would suspend its collection of motor fuel taxes during the summer vacation travel season. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has opposed it because it would provide minimal relief.
The proposed gas tax holiday is an odd idea to dominate an energy policy debate. All three candidates have promised to take action if elected that would dramatically and permanently increase gasoline prices. More...
29 Jul 2007
Differential Pricing of College Education:
Charging more for certain majors
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Economics
It is an anomaly of the higher education market that there are widespread differences in price both across and within colleges and universities, but historically a student's choice of major has not been a pricing criterion. Universities are beginning to experiment with differential pricing, though apparently with considerable apprehension. More...
16 May 2007
Journal Peer Review and Objectivity:
Corroboration of the problem from scientists themselves
by Richard Belzer
in Peer Review
We've posted on the "rebuttable presumption" of objectivity that the Office of Management and Budget wrote into its government-wide guidelines for information quality and peer review. The core of the problem is that scholarly journals do not use objectivity (as OMB has defined it) as a criterion for acceptance, or as a performance standard for peer reviewers. That means peer review is a poorly targeted (and perhaps completely unguided) way to ensure that federal agencies disseminate information that satisfies the objectivity criterion.
Other scientists are chiming in, with interesting perspectives on various underlying problems in journal peer review. A number of reforms have been suggested and are worth examining. Note that the list of identified problems does not include objectivity as OMB defined the term. Last year we noted that Nature is trying an "open peer review" model, one that uses blogging technology. We have not yet found an analysis of how it has performed.
More...
10 May 2007
When Science Becomes Advocacy:
Childhood obesity in Somerville, Massachusetts
by Richard Belzer
in Peer Review, Regulatory Policy
Wall Street Journal health columnist Tara Parker Pope has a Page One article about a recent program intended to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity in Somerville, Massachusetts. The occasion for the story is publication of a scientific review of the program.
Pope's article, and the journal article on which it is based, raise troubling questions about scientists and journalists behaving as advocates. It also exposes problems inherent to scientific peer review. More...
17 Jan 2007
Conflict of Interest, Bias, and Mold
Challenging the Wall Street Journal
by Richard Belzer
in Litigation, Regulatory Science
On January 9, Wall Street Journal reporter David Armstrong published a long Page One article alleging that a position paper on the health effects of mold published by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine suffered from bias and conflict of interest.
Today, ACOEM president Tee Guidotti responded to some of Armstrong's allegations.
More...24 Oct 2006
Misleading College Crime Statistics:
And a lesson in how to disprove objectivity under federal information quality guidelines
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Science
Wall Street Journal reporter Zachary
M. Seward reports October 23 (subscription may be required)
that colleges are systematically underreporting the incidence of crimes
on campus.
Under a 1990 law known as the Clery Act, schools must report statistics on burglaries -- but not larcenies -- to the Education Department and to students and staff. Schools report larceny totals separately to the FBI for its annual report on crime in the U.S. But thefts, whether characterized as burglary or larceny, are only part of the problem of gauging campus security. Some schools have understated violent crimes such as robberies and sexual assaults.Colleges have strong incentives to underreport campus crime. The Journal article suggests that underreporting is rampant.
Crime statistics are a sensitive matter for colleges, which initially resisted passage of the Clery Act. The law, named for a student murdered in 1986 at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, is intended to provide accurate assessments of campus crime for applicants, students and their parents.
More...
20 Oct 2006
Gas Tax Economics
Reviewing Mankiw's proposal
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy
Harvard economics professor and former Bush administration chief economist Gregory Mankiw says in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that Congress should raise the gas tax.
With the midterm election around the corner, here's a wacky idea you won't often hear from our elected leaders: We should raise the tax on gasoline. Not quickly, but substantially. I would like to see Congress increase the gas tax by $1 per gallon, phased in gradually by 10 cents per year over the next decade.
He gives seven arguments for his proposed $1 per gallon increase in the gas tax: (1) carbon dioxide abatement, (2) reducing road congestion, (3) relief from counterproductive regulations, (4) balancing the federal budget, (5) burden-sharing with oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, (6) a preference for consumption over income taxes, and (7) enhanced national security.
Which of these arguments stands up to elementary economic scrutiny?
More...
14 Sep 2006
Nature Adopts an Experiment on Open Peer Review
by Richard Belzer
in Information Quality, Peer Review, Regulatory Science
Nature, one of the world's most distinguished science journals, recently supplemented its existing anonymous peer review with an open peer review process. A short story about it appeared in a UPI report, a longer one in Thursday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Scholarly peer review traditionally has been anonymous and confidential. It's purpose has been to ascertain whether scientific research reports meet the minimum quality standard for the journal in question, and secondarily, to allocate scarce pages to the best science that is compatible with the journal's mission.
The effectiveness of this model has come under frequent criticism for failing to detect fraud or error -- both of which are different and much more demanding objectives. In public policy, the Office of Management and Budget's 2002 Information Quality Guidelines confer a rebuttable presumption of objectivity on science that has survived scholarly peer review. This is an odd space for scholarly journals to occupy because objectivity, as that term is defined in the OMB guidelines, rarely is the defined purpose of scholarly publication.
More...October 17-18:
Research Seminar on Market-Based Methods for Environmental Protection
by Richard Belzer
in Events, Regulatory Economics
On September 11 EPA announced a research meeting to review progress on Agency-funded academic research related to market mechanisms for environmental protection.
The meeting will be held October 17-18 in Washington DC. Registration is free.
More...21 Apr 2006
Becker and Posner on "Price Gouging"
by Richard Belzer
in Regulatory Economics
Finishing (we hope) a recent series of blogs on "price gouging," we want to alert readers to a blog written byNobel laureate Gary Becker and 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner. Both have commented onthis issue. More...
30 Mar 2006
How Intensive Was the Peer Review for the Commentary by Ginsberg and Rice in Environmental Health Perspectives?
by Richard Belzer
in Peer Review, Regulatory Science
Peer review is often viewed as the "gold standard" for scientific quality. But like everything else, the quality of peer review varies. More...
28 Mar 2006
Inflation Forecasts: Are Government Estimates Believable?
by Richard Belzer
in Information Quality, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Science
Neutral Source recently posted a pair of blogs about how inflation forecasting was like risk assessment, and how it isn't. David Wessel started the discussion in his Capital column in the March 16 edition of the Wall Street Journal. On March 21 he posted a selection of interesting reader responses. (A subscription to wsj.com is required to view them.) More...
15 Mar 2006
Welcome to the Neutral Source Blog
by Richard Belzer
in Corrections, Events, Glossary, Information Quality, Legislation, Litigation, Peer Review, People & Institutions, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy, Regulatory Science, Welcome
Neutral Source opened for business on the Ides of March 2006. More...
