30 | October | 2012

Saturday, May 25, 2013

‘Maximum temperature law’ to prevent ‘temperature gouging’ makes as much sense as laws to prevent ‘price gouging’

Mark J. Perry | October 30, 2012, 7:25 pm

The summer of 2012 was the third-warmest summer on record in the United States. The average temperature of 74.4 degrees from June-August this year was just one-tenth of a degree below last summer’s average temperature of 74.5 degrees, and two-tenths … read more >

Carpe Diem

Michigan voters shouldn’t forget the state’s past, very costly problems with public sector unions

Mark J. Perry | October 30, 2012, 6:46 pm

When voters go to the polls next week, Michigan’s labor unions want voters in their state to forget the state’s grim history with public sector unions and vote in favor of Proposal 2, a ballot initiative that would create a … read more >

Carpe Diem

Robert Reich objects when airlines use market-based pricing, but enjoys market pricing for his $40,000 speaking fee

Mark J. Perry | October 30, 2012, 1:55 pm

Robert Reich was relieved that he was a passenger on one of the last flights to leave NYC before the airports closed on Monday. But he’s upset that the airline had “jacked up” ticket prices to $4,000 for the last … read more >

Pethokoukis

Misplaced Nordic envy

James Pethokoukis | October 30, 2012, 1:50 pm

The United States is now just the 12th most prosperous nation on Earth, apparently. This marks the first time it has ever fallen from the top ten of the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index. Here is an explanatory note from a … read more >

Carpe Diem

More on price gouging: Disasters don’t change market forces; Market prices are even more important post-Hurricane Sandy

Mark J. Perry | October 30, 2012, 1:00 pm

In correctly anticipating that there would naturally be upward pressure on prices in New Jersey for many critical goods like fuel, food and electric generators in the wake of Hurricane Sandy because of an increase in demand and a reduction … read more >

Pethokoukis

The Sandy Stimulus? No, actually the hurricane will hurt the fragile U.S. economy

James Pethokoukis | October 30, 2012, 11:24 am

Economic consultancy IHS Global Insight dismisses the idea that Hurricane Sandy is just the Keynesian stimulus the American economy needs: The region affected by Hurricane Sandy will be similar to the one affected by Hurricane Irene in 2011 – a … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion, Elections, Pethokoukis

A sign Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog may have skewed way off course

James Pethokoukis | October 30, 2012, 11:09 am

There’s been a lot of controversy about the FiveThirtyEight election forecasting blog run by Nate Silver at the The New York Times. According to Silver’s analytics, day by day President Obama has been incrementally closing the deal over the past … read more >

Pethokoukis

Romney is right about FEMA and government disaster response

James Pethokoukis | October 30, 2012, 10:30 am

Superstorm Sandy isn’t even done doing its damage, and the knee-jerk punditry is already in full force. Many folks on the left, such as The New York Times editorial board, simply cannot imagine how anything but command-and-control national government can … read more >

Image Credit: Austen Hufford (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Politics and Public Opinion, Elections

7 days: US 2012 elections live

Henrik Temp | October 30, 2012, 10:25 am

News & analysis on Election 2012. Updated throughout the day. read more >

Carpe Diem

Price gouging following Hurricane Sandy: New Jersey vs. DC

Mark J. Perry | October 30, 2012, 10:15 am

1. Back in 2008, economist Art Carden wrote “As surely as summer follows spring, natural disasters are followed by saber rattling about ‘price gouging,’ which is usually defined very lucidly and clearly as an ‘unconscionable’ increase in the price of … read more >