Regulation articles from June 2003

Regulation archives from June 2003

Another look at Kleit. (For the Record).
June 22, 2003... Andrew Kleit's article "CAFE Changes, by the Numbers" (Fall 2002) seems a reasonable presentation of the case against CAFE standards. However, it is not a balanced presentation of the pros and cons of such standards, as it ignores the...

The Precautionary Principle. (Mercatus Reports).
June 22, 2003... STATUS: Use is under examination The White House has established a new Interagency Work Group on Risk Management that will examine current risk management practices "with an emphasis on the role of precaution in risk policy and...

Airline Computer Reservation Systems. (Mercatus Reports).
June 22, 2003... STATUS: Comment period closed June 9, 2003 It has been nearly 20 years since the Civil Aeronautics Board imposed a series of regulations on the then-airline-owned Computer Reservation Systems (CRS). The Board, and subsequently the...

The Planner's Paradox. (Mercatus Reports: Commentary).
June 22, 2003... Along with its 2003 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulation, the Office of Management and Budget recently released a new draft Circular containing guidelines to be used by regulatory agencies in preparing Regulatory...

The virtue of an all-volunteer force. (Briefly Noted).
June 22, 2003... LAST JANUARY, AS CONGRESS AND THE public grappled with the possibility of U.S. military action in Iraq, war opponent Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced "The National Service Act of 2003" to reinstate compulsory service for U.S. citizens...

Bootleggers and biotechs. (Briefly Noted).
June 22, 2003... FROM THE CLAIMS OF OPPONENTS OF the new biotechnology, it would be easy to conclude that the biotech industry has vigorously fought government efforts to regulate its products. But in fact, the industry has been anything but a consistent...

Should we fear media cross-ownership? The FCC's cross-ownership decision will help bring American media into the new century. (Communications).
June 22, 2003... THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS commission's June decision to overhaul ownership rules governing media companies could significantly alter the American media landscape. The rules, which have their origins in the 1930s and which were expanded in the...

Clearing the air: despite negative public perception and misleading portrayals, American air quality has improved dramatically. (Environment).
June 22, 2003... THE UNITED STATES HAS MADE DRAMATIC progress in reducing air pollution over the last few decades, and most American cities now enjoy relatively good air quality. But polls show that most Americans believe air pollution has grown worse or will...

An opening for meaningful reform? Forthcoming rules governing federal oversight of wetlands could produce more sensible environmental policy. (Environment).
June 22, 2003... RECENT LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS HAVE called into question the scope of the federal government's jurisdiction over the nation's wetlands. Section 404(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for the...

Regulation on the final frontier: market innovations would greatly benefit America's space policy. (Space).
June 22, 2003... THE TRAGIC LOSS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE Columbia last February reintroduced into America's consciousness the question of why we send humans into space. But until the accident, most people did not know that Columbia was in orbit and even fewer...

The unintended consequences of the '91 Civil Rights Act: the emphasis on firing-based litigation has had subtle but important effects. (Labor).
June 22, 2003... THE EARLY 1990S SAW A REBIRTH OF congressional interest in employment discrimination legislation. After months of national debate, a presidential veto of a 1990 civil rights bill, and the nationally televised Clarence Thomas confirmation...

Resolving the "elephantine mass": is there a fair way for policymakers to free the American economy from the specter of never-ending asbestos litigation? (Liability).
June 22, 2003... SUPREME COURT JUSTICE DAVID SOUTER has called asbestos litigation "an elephantine mass" --600,000 plaintiffs have sued for damages, 6,000 companies have been sued, 80 companies have filed for bankruptcy because of asbestos liabilities, $54...

Unmasking the Regulators. (In Review).
June 22, 2003... THE REGULATORS: Anonymous Power Brokers in American Politics by Cindy Skrzycki 256 pp., Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Cindy Skrzycki's weekly Washington Post column "The Regulators" has captured the readers' attention for...

Searching for the Beneficiaries of Government Ethics Laws. (In Review).
June 22, 2003... SCANDAL PROOF: Do Ethics Laws Make Government Ethical? by G. Calvin Mackenzie with Michael Hafken 196 pp., Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press, 2002. When proposing the legislation that would later become the Ethics in...

Taming the Environment. (In Review).
June 22, 2003... POLICY INSTRUMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT By Thomas Sterner. 504 pp., Washington D.C.: Resources for the Future, 2003 Books and papers on the environment largely fall into a few standard patterns --...

California's Energy Blight. (In Review).
June 22, 2003... THE CALIFORNIA ELECTRICITY CRISIS by James L. Sweeney 292 pp., Stanford, Calif.: The Hoover Institution, 2002 In The California Electricity Crisis, author James L. Sweeney has produced the most comprehensive study to date of the...

Speak your mind, then take off your clothes. (The Final Word).
June 22, 2003... REMEMBER A FEW MONTHS AGO WHEN THE Dixie Chicks said they were ashamed of President Bush? A lot of fans turned on them, and radio stations dumped them and some burned their records. So the Dixies took it back and then posed naked for the cover...