Posts
FOXNews.com - BP Spill Hits a Somber Record as Gulf's Biggest: "The oil that's spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea hit the 140.6 million gallon mark, eclipsing the record-setting, 140-million-gallon Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast from 1979 to 1980. Even by the lower end of the government's estimates, at least 71.7 million gallons are in the Gulf."
Surprising! Based on the reports, I thought it was a record long ago!
"But it's not the biggest in history.
That happened when Iraqi forces opened valves at a terminal and dumped as much as 336 million gallons of oil in 1991 during the Persian Gulf war, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
BP Doesn't Deserve a Liability Cap | Richard A. Epstein | Cato Institute: Commentary
BP Doesn't Deserve a Liability Cap | Richard A. Epstein | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Tort remedies are essential to protect people (and their property) who do not have contractual relations with defendants from harms such as air and water pollution."
"The first element in the mix is a no-nonsense liability system that fastens full responsibility on the parties who run dangerous operations, no excuses allowed. Accordingly, we have to be especially wary of statutory caps on tort damages, including the current law, under which, in the case of the oil industry, the 'total of liability ... with respect to each incident shall not exceed for an offshore facility except a deepwater port, the total of all removal costs plus $75,000,000.' That $75 million is chicken feed. Fortunately, the law removes that cap if the incident was caused by 'the gross negligence or willful misconduct' of any party, or its failure to comply with any 'applicable Federal safety, construction, or operating regulation.'"
"A tough liability system does more than provide compensation for serious harms after the fact. It also sorts out the wheat from the chaff — so that in this case companies with weak safety profiles don't get within a mile of an oil derrick. Solid insurance underwriting is likely to do a better job in pricing risk than any program of direct government oversight. Only strong players, highly incentivized and fully bonded, need apply for a permit to operate. This logic also suggests that the Price Anderson Act's $375 million cap on damages for each responsible party to cover incidents at a nuclear power facilities should be rethought."
"Its second misstep was to insist that BP pay for the lost wages of the workers on these wells that its own ill-advised ban would lay off. (BP does face, properly, potentially huge exposure to make good on the income of other workers laid off because of damage caused by the leaking oil.) But don't worry, taxpayers, for the U.S. government has complete statutory immunity from tort liability when acting in its 'discretionary' capacity."
"The first element in the mix is a no-nonsense liability system that fastens full responsibility on the parties who run dangerous operations, no excuses allowed. Accordingly, we have to be especially wary of statutory caps on tort damages, including the current law, under which, in the case of the oil industry, the 'total of liability ... with respect to each incident shall not exceed for an offshore facility except a deepwater port, the total of all removal costs plus $75,000,000.' That $75 million is chicken feed. Fortunately, the law removes that cap if the incident was caused by 'the gross negligence or willful misconduct' of any party, or its failure to comply with any 'applicable Federal safety, construction, or operating regulation.'"
"A tough liability system does more than provide compensation for serious harms after the fact. It also sorts out the wheat from the chaff — so that in this case companies with weak safety profiles don't get within a mile of an oil derrick. Solid insurance underwriting is likely to do a better job in pricing risk than any program of direct government oversight. Only strong players, highly incentivized and fully bonded, need apply for a permit to operate. This logic also suggests that the Price Anderson Act's $375 million cap on damages for each responsible party to cover incidents at a nuclear power facilities should be rethought."
"Its second misstep was to insist that BP pay for the lost wages of the workers on these wells that its own ill-advised ban would lay off. (BP does face, properly, potentially huge exposure to make good on the income of other workers laid off because of damage caused by the leaking oil.) But don't worry, taxpayers, for the U.S. government has complete statutory immunity from tort liability when acting in its 'discretionary' capacity."
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Costs without Benefits | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
Costs without Benefits | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "No individual can know the vast number of laws and regulations to which he is subject, and hence, the government (if it chooses) can target anyone and almost certainly be able to find some law or rule that the targeted person has violated. According to Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. Constitution only gave Congress the power to punish criminally 'treason, counterfeiting the securities and coin of the United States, piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations, and no other crimes whatsoever.' Yet the federal criminal code contains thousands of pages, making it impossible for individuals to know all of the violations for which they may be sent to jail."
White House Press Challenges Pols with ... Squirt Guns? | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
White House Press Challenges Pols with ... Squirt Guns? | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "conservative complaints about the supposedly monolithic 'Media' are outdated and smack of a victim mentality. Fox is the top-rated cable news channel, the Wall Street Journal has the largest circulation of any U.S. paper and Glenn Beck is the new Oprah, shooting Friedrich von Hayek's Road to Serfdom to the top of the Amazon charts last week.
We don't live in the era of three networks anymore, and it's silly to pretend that conservative voices are being shut out."
We don't live in the era of three networks anymore, and it's silly to pretend that conservative voices are being shut out."
Free or Compulsory Speech - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Daily
Free or Compulsory Speech - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Daily: "The Fifth Amendment, as we all know, prohibits the government from forcing a person to testify against himself: 'nor shall any person … be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.' Excellent. But why should an accused criminal possess a right not also granted to admittedly innocent persons? In short, by what right does a government compel someone to testify against another?"
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Deterrence Illusion | Stanley Kober | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Deterrence Illusion | Stanley Kober | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Much is made, for example, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) invoking Article V — the famous 'three musketeers' pledge that an attack on one member is to be considered as an attack on all — following the terrorist attacks of September 11.
But the United States is the most powerful member of NATO by far. Indeed, in 2001, it was widely considered to be a hegemon, a hyperpower. Other countries wanted to be in NATO because they felt an American guarantee would provide security.
And yet it was the US that was attacked.
This failure of deterrence has not received the attention it deserves. It is, after all, not unique. The North Vietnamese were not deterred by the American guarantee to South Vietnam. Similarly, Hezbollah was not deterred in Lebanon in the 1980s, and American forces were assaulted in Somalia. What has been going wrong?"
But the United States is the most powerful member of NATO by far. Indeed, in 2001, it was widely considered to be a hegemon, a hyperpower. Other countries wanted to be in NATO because they felt an American guarantee would provide security.
And yet it was the US that was attacked.
This failure of deterrence has not received the attention it deserves. It is, after all, not unique. The North Vietnamese were not deterred by the American guarantee to South Vietnam. Similarly, Hezbollah was not deterred in Lebanon in the 1980s, and American forces were assaulted in Somalia. What has been going wrong?"
Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases
Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases: "the right to bear arms is a fundamental right enjoyed by all Americans that cannot be infringed by the federal or state governments"
More info about his position is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Feingold#Gun_issues
More info about his position is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Feingold#Gun_issues
The Gulf Spill, the Financial Crisis and Government Failure | Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Gulf Spill, the Financial Crisis and Government Failure | Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Obviously, regulation failed. By all accounts, [the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior] operated as a rubber stamp for BP. It is a striking example of regulatory capture: Agencies tasked with protecting the public interest come to identify with the regulated industry and protect its interests against that of the public. The result: Government fails to protect the public. That conclusion is precisely the same for the financial services industry.
Financial services have long been subject to detailed regulation by multiple agencies. In his book on the financial crisis, Jimmy Stewart is Dead, Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff counts over 115 regulatory agencies for financial services. If more hands in the pot helped, financial services would be in fine shape. Few believe such is the case."
"Government response to crises once they occur is slow and inept. All this is not because either Republicans or Democrats are in power, but because big government doesn't work. It can't deliver on its promises. Big government overpromises and underdelivers. In reaching to do more, big government accomplishes less. That is not an ideological statement, but an empirical observation."
"The complexity of rules is self-defeating, because that complexity requires more knowledge than can be acquired. Brazil has a simple rule for directors of failed banks: They are personally liable. That concentrates the mind of directors on reining in risk-taking by management more effectively than would creating a systemic-risk regulator."
Financial services have long been subject to detailed regulation by multiple agencies. In his book on the financial crisis, Jimmy Stewart is Dead, Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff counts over 115 regulatory agencies for financial services. If more hands in the pot helped, financial services would be in fine shape. Few believe such is the case."
"Government response to crises once they occur is slow and inept. All this is not because either Republicans or Democrats are in power, but because big government doesn't work. It can't deliver on its promises. Big government overpromises and underdelivers. In reaching to do more, big government accomplishes less. That is not an ideological statement, but an empirical observation."
"The complexity of rules is self-defeating, because that complexity requires more knowledge than can be acquired. Brazil has a simple rule for directors of failed banks: They are personally liable. That concentrates the mind of directors on reining in risk-taking by management more effectively than would creating a systemic-risk regulator."
Supremes Say “Yes” To Guns � John Stossel
Supremes Say “Yes” To Guns � John Stossel: "But Chicago's Mayor Daley�said that if his gun ban is struck down:
'Access to guns will destroy America faster than any other war. Take Europe. Take Japan and other countries that don't have access to guns. They don't have the amount of killings.'
They don’t. But they also have different cultures. Just look at Switzerland, where�all men are expected to keep a machine gun at home --�they have a�far lower murder rate than the United States.
Comparisons across countries aren't very helpful, because there are many reasons why crime rates differ. It's more important to look at what happens before and after bans."
'Access to guns will destroy America faster than any other war. Take Europe. Take Japan and other countries that don't have access to guns. They don't have the amount of killings.'
They don’t. But they also have different cultures. Just look at Switzerland, where�all men are expected to keep a machine gun at home --�they have a�far lower murder rate than the United States.
Comparisons across countries aren't very helpful, because there are many reasons why crime rates differ. It's more important to look at what happens before and after bans."
Refusing to Be Counted - Vijay Boyapati - Mises Daily
Refusing to Be Counted - Vijay Boyapati - Mises Daily: "In 1943 the Census Bureau divulged data that was used to identify Japanese Americans, who were then confined in concentration camps for the remaining duration of World War II — a fact that was suppressed by the bureau for over 50 years.[8] More recently, the Census Bureau provided specially tabulated statistics to the Department of Homeland Security to help identify Arab Americans."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)