Nanny Government Monitors Household Trash Bins in U.K.
The other day, I wrote about a nanny state law to ban restaurants from offering toys with meals deemed too unhealthy by the government in Santa Clara County, California. Here is another entry in the...
View ArticleConsumer Financial Protection Bureau Problems
Building on some of the critiques we've had of Congressional plans to boost consumer "protection" by establishing increased regulatory oversight for financial products, here is another perspective on...
View ArticleImmigration Isn't the Problem
The Congress of the United States—an institution that spent a chunk of the past year cajoling passage of the most contentious legislation devised in decades—may not have the "appetite" to take on...
View ArticleChina Debates High-Speed Rail
The China Daily recently had an interesting debate between experts on the usefulness of high-speed rail in meeting China's transportation needs.Interestingly, the pro-side was taken by a World Bank...
View ArticleHow Starving Government Still Gets Fat
Sarah Palin may hunt moose with a rifle, but when she's out for bigger game, she relies on an unorthodox approach to bring down her quarry: Deprive it of food. "Please, starve the beast!" she recently...
View Article12 of 20 Most Economically Stressed Counties are in CA. Hmmmmmm
AP has put out it's index of the most economically stressed counties in the nation, and most of them are in CA. Drill down into it here.
View ArticleCompostion of California's Population Growth
This look at the composition of migration to and from CA over the past 20 years is interesting.In 12 of the 19 years since 1990, more Californians have left the state to go to other states than moved...
View ArticleIndia's Government by Quota
Wall Street Journal For nearly half a century, group or racial preferences have been America's prescribed remedy for racism and other -isms standing in the way of social equality. But anyone wishing to...
View ArticleWhat Made the Burnham Plan Succeed? The Private Sector
Aaron Renn has an interesting post over on his blog the Urbanophile on Chicago's regional plan created by Daniel Burnham. His fundamental question is: Why did this one succeed? A big part of the...
View ArticleZIRP Killing Us
The FOMC met last week and once again ZIRP—zero interest rate policy—reigned supreme. The verdict: no change in the Fed's previous position to "maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0...
View ArticleCongress Didn't Learn Anything From the Financial Crisis
Voting is expected to begin today on Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) financial reform bill as the Senate takes up debate on amendments to the gigantic piece of legislation. Some of the amendments have broad...
View ArticleHas the Netherlands Solved the Electronic Toll Privacy Issue?
One of the benefits of attending a large conference like the one hosted by ITS America (Intelligent Transportation Society of America) in Houston this week is the side conversations with experts from...
View ArticleCash For Clunkers: Government Accountability Office Weighs In
The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act was signed into law on June 24, 2009. Remember we all knew it as “Cash for Clunkers.” Last summer Congress directed the Secretary of...
View ArticleBudgetary Three-Card Monte
Lawrence Lindsey, President George W. Bush’s first National Economic Council director, was fired in 2002 after estimating publicly that the war in Iraq could cost upward of $200 billion, about four...
View ArticleWeighing the Benefits & Costs of Offshore Drilling
Two weeks ago BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 workers. The exploratory well began gushing oil at an estimated rate of 5,000 barrels per day when the...
View ArticleHighway, Infrastructure Spending Needs Benefit-Cost Analysis
At the National Journal Transportation blog I take part in, Lisa Caruso asks:On April 26, the organization representing state transportation officials released the first in a series of reports calling...
View ArticleNew at Reason: Congress Didn't Learn Anything From the Financial Crisis
I have a new commentary out, continuing to point out errors in the Dodd bill. It is certainly the best version so far, but that is little solace when looking at mind twisting errors like the absence of...
View ArticleVMT Wrong Metric for Climate Change
I've spent the last several days at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America's 20th annual conference in Houston, and today I was on a panel on transportation and climate change with Deron...
View ArticleAndres Duany Criticizes Combersome Planning Process
New Urbanist planner and architect Andres Duany has taken aim at the contemporary U.S. planning process, arguing that its openness prevents innovative projects from getting approved. Talking to...
View ArticleArrest Everybody
A few years ago, David and Jessica Rodriguez were leaving Arizona's Bartlett Lake with their two children when they accidentally headed down a road that had been closed because of rain damage. They...
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