24 Jun 2008

McCain's $300 Million Prize for a 'Super Battery':
Would this help or hurt?

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

Sen. John McCain has proposed that the federal government award a $300 million prize for the "for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

Assuming it would be a good thing to have this technology, is McCain's proposal economically sensible?
More...

17 Jun 2008

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

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy, Legislation

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...

4 Jun 2008

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

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

Robert Reich, secretary of the Department of Labor in the Clinton Administration, addresses the question of what the federal government should do with several trillion dollars worth of new revenue from carbon taxes or auctioned permits. More...

23 Apr 2008

Proposed New Fuel Economy Standards:
A test for benefit-cost analysis

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

The Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed on April 22 to significantly increase the fleet average fuel economy standards motor vehicle manufacturers must meet beginning in the 2001 model year. More...

21 Mar 2008

The Revised Ozone Standard:
Simple math and simple constitutional law

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Science, Regulatory Policy

The Washington Post's environment reporter says EPA has weakened the national ambient air quality quality standard for ozone. Given that the standard is going down, what does she mean? More...

12 Mar 2008

The Haze of Carbon Dioxide
According to the Washington Post, anyway

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Science, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

The Washington Post says carbon dioxide is visible to the naked eye. More...

8 Mar 2008

Virginia's New "Voluntary Tax" on Its "Bad" Drivers, Part 4:
The backlash wins

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

Washington Post staff writer Tim Craig reports that the Virginia legislature is expected to repeal the law that authorized the voluntary tax on bad Virginia drivers. The action follows a Virgina Supreme Court decision issued on February 29 declaring unconstitutional the legislature's other 2006 transportation policy innovation -- the creation of unelected regional authorities with the power to levy taxes. More...

21 Feb 2008

How Not to Estimate Benefits:
The case of Avastin

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

The Wall Street Journal editorializes today against a longstanding Food and Drug Administration policy that values the benefits of drugs for terminal cancer patients solely in terms of life extension. Some visual aids may help make the issues easier to understand. More...

19 Feb 2008

The Precautionary Principle in Action:
Is taking or not taking Vytorin 'precautionary'?

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Science, Regulatory Policy

A recent study raised doubt about the benefits of Vytorin, a patented combination of two anti-cholesterol drugs, ezetimibe and simvastatin. Some cardiologists say the study is sufficient evidence to stop prescribing it as widely; others disagree.

The decision whether to take Vytorin or its component drugs rests with patients, but they rely heavily on the advice of their doctors? How can patients makes sense of this debate? More...

13 Feb 2008

Solving the Problem of Excess Consumption by More Consumption:
Robert Reich is "Totally Spent"

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

We don't normally wade into macroeconomics, but today is an exception. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich diagnoses today's economic problems in a intriguing manner and offers an interesting prescription. He begins from the premise that the U.S. economy has been stagnant for a generation, and lower- and middle-income households already spend everything they earn and do not save. "America’s median hourly wage is barely higher than it was 35 years ago, adjusted for inflation," he writes. "{M]iddle- and lower-income Americans found ways to live beyond their paychecks," he continues, "[b]ut now they have run out of ways."

His prescription: subsidize additional consumption by middle- and lower-income households. This is an unusual proposal given the prevailing view that Americans do not save enough. More...

6 Feb 2008

The Perils of Regulatory Policymaking by Opinion Poll:
Consumer Reports on "health care reform"

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

Consumer Reports has sponsored a poll on health care that yielded results characterized as "revealing a significant disconnect." But there is no disconnect at all if elementary economic analysis is applied. More...

1 Feb 2008

Objectivity in Risk Assessment:
The National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, Part 4

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Science, Regulatory Policy

The subject of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate of Iran's nuclear weapons program is not the dominant subject of news reporting that it was when we first posted on it. However, a conventional narrative has developed to the effect that Iran's nuclear ambitions and developmental efforts are no longer a legitimate concern.

Today we hope to finish our series on this subject showing why this narrative is based on value-based preferences that various people and interest groups hold, and is not supported by the NIE itself.


More...

19 Dec 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 8
Arizona's HB 2779

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

On July 2, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano signed into law a bill that tightens an existing statutory definition for felonious "aggravated taking identity of another person" and establishes a new statutory regime that will sanction employers who violate federal immigration law after January 1, 2008. The bill passed the State House of Representatives 47-11 and the State Senate 20-4. More...

7 Dec 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 7
Oregon to consider authorizing in-state tuition for illegal aliens

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

The Associated Press reports that Oregon's Board of Higher Education is considering a plan that would offer in-state tuition to qualified graduates of Oregon high schools who are not in the U.S. legally. More...

6 Dec 2007

Objectivity in Risk Assessment:
The National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, Part 3

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Policy, Information Quality

The web is chock full of commentary on the recently released summary of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. (We emphasize summary because the body of the NIE remains classified.) We've posted here and here on the NIE as a risk assessment document, noting that it claims to be an objective assessment not confounded by risk management (i.e., policy or political) concerns.

We've read much (but by no means all) of this news and commnetary and drawn some inferences we hope are useful. More...