17 Jun 2008

Carbon Taxes and Auctions:
What to do with $7 trillion, part 2

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

In a story summarizing an in depth interview with Sen. Barack Obama, Wall Street Journal reporters Bob Davis and Amy Chozick provide news insights concerning how he or Sen. John McCain would propose to spend trillions of dollars in new government revenue that would be collected by auctioning carbon emission allowances. More...

14 Jun 2008

Cap and Trade:
Applying it to gasoline

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics

Energy economist Jonathan Lesser publishes a commentary in the Wall Street Journal "recommending" a cap-and-trade program for gasoline. The piece is lightly satirical but nevertheless highlights an important point: All emission permit systems, including the proposed cap-and-trade regime for greenhouse gases, is a form of rationing. More...

28 May 2008

Gas Tax Holidays, Part 4:
Pressure in favor mounts in Europe

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics

Public discussion about a federal gas tax holiday has abated in the U.S., but according to the Washington Post it is heating up in Europe. More...

3 Dec 2007

New CAFE Standards:
Will they be cost-effective?

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

Wall Street Journal reporter Mike Spector writes on the draft agreement within the Congressional leadership on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The text of the bill is not yet available, but Spector's reporting provides useful information. More...

4 Nov 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 4
An update on the New York State driver license controversy

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

We recently posted times on various States' efforts to indirectly regulate immigration by supplementing federal immigration law (e.g., Oklahoma), or alternatively, to refuse to leverage State or local resources to enforce these laws (e.g., Illinois). We also looked at New York Governor Spitzer's September change in driver license policy that enabled illegal aliens to obtain valid driver licenses. We concluded that, whatever its merits as a policy, this did not appear to be a significant change from current practice because New York State's proof of identity standards would remain unchanged.

Spitzer's policy change stirred considerable controversy, so we went back to examine the issue in greater detail. Recently, Spitzer revised New York State driver license policy in a very significant way, and a comparison of the two policies reveals much more about how New York is addressing immigration issues. More...

19 Jul 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 2
Oklahoma's HB 1804

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation

Oklahoma's HB 1804 was enacted this spring and becomes effective on November 1, 2007. More...

23 Jun 2007

New Motor Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards:
Some easily predictable consequences

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation

H.R. 6 (Rahall) passed the House 264-163 and now the Senate 65-27, but with amendment that requires a conference. This presents a good opportunity to describe the economic implications of some of its more notable provisions.

We start with corporate average fuel economy standards for motor vehicles. More...

21 May 2007

Comprehensive Immigration Reform:
Text of the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Policy

Earlier today we posted a comment on the comprehensive immigration bill that was negotiated by the Bush administration and selected Members of Congress. A Google News search yields over 3,000 hits, but the bill itself has not been published for public review. That makes regulatory analysis impossible, yet advocates were seeking passage this week.

Through the courtesy of Wall Street Journal reporter John Fund, who published a commentary this morning on the bill and unearthed the text, we now have a copy of the discussion draft of the bill.

Readers should beware: the text is 326 pages. More...

Comprehensive Immigration Reform:
Lots of talk, nothing to analyze

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation

Over the weekend it was announced that the Bush administration and a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen had reached agreement on the details of a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Proponents said they wanted a Senate vote by Tuesday. More...

22 Feb 2007

JetBlue's "Customer Bill of Rights"
Is this a big deal?

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Policy

In response to what it it calls its "worst operational week" ever, JetBlue has issued a "customer bill of rights."

• Does it make any sense for a seller in the marketplace to be issuing "bills of rights" to their customers?
• Is this a sufficient market-driven response for JetBlue to repair customer relations?
• Will it deter Congress from passing legislation on the subject?

20 Feb 2007

Markets Work
What happens when governments suppress market forces

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

Today's news brings a pair of interesting (and foreboding) lessons in what happens when government tries to suppress markets.

In Iran, government subsidies make the price of gasoline just 40 cents per gallon. In Florida, the state has decided to subsidize the cost of property insurance.

In Iran, there is massive overconsumption of energy that threatens both the economy and the polity. Its authoritarian, theocratic government is unwilling to endure the public reaction that would result from restoring market prices for energy.

In Florida, property owners in harm's way will overinsure and not bother taking otherwise cost-effective measures to reduce their losses from future hurricanes. When the hurricanes come, their losses will be covered by surcharges on other property owners (especially those out of harm's way) and taxpayers.

28 Jan 2007

Minimum Wage, Part 8
H.R. 2 would not increase the minimum wage in 28 States

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics

H.R. 2 would increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour in three steps. We've previously noted that about 2 million U.S. workers are paid at or below the federal minimum and that they predominantly belong to well-defined demographic categories:

• Part-time workers
• Young adults
• Never married women
• Those with less than a high school education

Unemployment caused by raising the minimum wage will be concentrated among workers in these categories.

Last week Sen. Jim DeMint proposed an amendment to H.R. 2 that would have made the dollar-denominated increase in the effective minimum wage constant across all 50 States. His amendment was defeated 76-18.

What does this vote imply about the purpose of H.R. 2? Its practical effect would be to eliminate interstate competition for unskilled labor by forcing up its price in States where it is currently least expensive.

27 Jan 2007

Minimum Wage, Part 7
Persistent misreporting about H.R. 2 and the "Samoan tuna" exemption

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, People & Institutions, Regulatory Economics

Today's Wall Street Journal includes an op-ed alleging a connection between H.R. 2 (the House minimum wage bill), institutionalized corruption within industry and government on American Samoa, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As we reported in an earlier post, it has been widely alleged that Pelosi ordered that H.R. 2 be altered to exempt American Samoa from the proposed increase in the federal minimum wage to benefit StarKist and Del Monte, firms that have significant interests in American Samoa but which are headquartered in Pelosi's district.

We also reported that the existence of this "Samoan tuna" exemption is not supported by the text of H.R. 2, nor is it supported by the text of any of the minimum wage bills proposed during the 109th Congress. Neutral Source can't comment authoritatively on Zimmerman's reporting of corruption and slave-trading in American Samoa. However, we can correct the record concerning what H.R. 2 says and doesn't say. More...

19 Jan 2007

Using Regulation to Pay for Government Spending
Will increased subsidies for student loans benefit students?

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics

The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would lower the interest rates on federally insured student loans. These changes increase federal budget outlays, and under new pay-as-you-go budgeting rules ("PAYGO"), revenues must be found to offset these increases. That's accomplished by changing the regulations under which lenders must operate to issue these loans.

To cover the estimated $7 billion outlays from reduced interest rates, new regulations will increase fees charged to lenders by an estimated $14 billion. If lenders pass on just half of these added costs to borrowers, all gains students obtain from the reduced interest rate will be offset by higher fees. If lenders pass on more than half, this student loan program could get smaller.

16 Jan 2007

Minimum Wage, Part 6
The "Samoan tuna" exemption

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

In an editorial today, the Wall Street Journal says the minimum wage bill passed by the House of Representatives exempts certain of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's constituents in the tuna business. The editorial is not presentationally objective.