This story from St. Louis, which my Cato colleague Walter Olson cites in a post about OSHA, is a typical example of bureaucratic stupidity and absurd “safety” laws. My favorite part is that the bureaucrat actually thought it would be reasonable to rent a lift for $750 per day just to attach a harness for [...]
Archive for August 30th, 2010
Great Moments in Regulation
Posted in Big Government, Government stupidity, Government Thuggery, Regulation, tagged Cost-Benefit, Government stupidity, OSHA, Regulation on August 30, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Dishonest British Budgeting…Just Like We Do It in America
Posted in Big Government, David Cameron, England, Government Spending, Taxation, United Kingdom, tagged David Cameron, England, Government Spending, Taxation, Tories, United Kingdom on August 30, 2010 | 15 Comments »
According to news coverage, United Kingdom Prime Minister Cameron is imposing deep and savage budget cuts. I was interviewed by the BBC recently, for instance, and asked whether 25 percent spending reductions were too harsh. And here’s an excerpt from a New York Times story that is very representative of the news coverage. Like a [...]
Should the FDA Get More Power after Salmonella Egg Scare?
Posted in Economics, Government intervention, Regulation, tagged Cost-Benefit Analysis, Regulation, Safety, Salmonella on August 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune makes several excellent points in his column on the recent salmonella scare, commenting on the absurd tendency to reward government bureaucracies that screw up. But more important, he explains that there are very strong incentives for safety in an unfettered marketplace. The fundamental issue, though, is that there is [...]