The Infant Formula Crisis Argues for Less Government Intervention, Not More
Scott LincicomeYesterday, I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights on the topic of “Baby Formula and Beyond: The Impact of Consolidation on Families and Consumers ” and — given today’stroubling news about continued production problems at Abbott Laboratories ’ plant in Michigan — the hearing couldn’t have been more timely. Everyone at the hearing agreed that shortages in the United States have been caused in no small part by the current concentration of U.S. infant formula production among Abbott and three other companies: when A...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 16, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome Source Type: blogs
Cryptocurrency in the Shadow of the Infrastructure Act: An Update
Nicholas AnthonyIt ’s been over six months since theInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed with its cryptocurrency reporting provisions intact. If left unamended, those provisions will require exchanges, miners, and software developers to report the name and address of each “customer” as well asany business engaged in a transaction of $10,000 or more in cryptocurrency to report the customer ’s name, address, taxpayer identification number, amount paid, date, and nature of the transaction. Worse yet, it’s only six months until the reporting requirements will start to go in effect.Much has happened ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 13, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Nicholas Anthony Source Type: blogs
Not Securities? Not So Fast: Important Nuances in the Lummis ‐Gillibrand Crypto Bill
Jack SoloweyOn June 7, 2022, senators Cynthia Lummis (R ‑WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D‑NY) unveiled their highly anticipated crypto bill. The bipartisanLummis ‐Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act covers some of the most contested issues in crypto regulation, including taxation, stablecoins, digital asset exchanges, interoperability with the banking system, and compliance with anti ‐money laundering laws and sanctions. Notably, the bill seeks toclarify the extent to which digital assets ought to be regulated as securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or commodities by the Commodi...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 10, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jack Solowey Source Type: blogs
Paul Krugman and the “Ersatz” Theory of Private Currencies
George SelginAlthough I ' ve devoted many essays here to exploding myths about historical private currencies, there ' s one I ' ve yet to directly challenge. That ' s the belief that such currencies only thrive in the absence of official alternatives. Otherwise, the argument goes, people would drop private currencies like so many hot rocks. Since this opinion assumes that private currencies are inevitably inferior to official ones, I hereby christen it the " ersatz " theory of private currency. Note that " currency " means circulating or (in today ' s digital context)peer-to-peer exchange media: nobody denies that other so...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 9, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: George Selgin Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
June 09, 2022 Edition-----The Russian war on Ukraine is now well over 100 days old. The destruction and deaths are just awful and the world is being seriously re-shaped. Where this ends is unknowable but unlikely to be good.In the US we are seeing almost daily mass shootings and no-one seems to know what to do. Just pathetic.In the UK the hangover is slowly lifting after the 4 day royal celebration.In OZ we are having an energy crisis which we hope we will find solutions for soon!-----Major Issues.------https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/australias-labor-government-faces-a-whole-new-economic-ball-game/news...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - June 9, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
Border Patrol Checkpoints and the Drug War: The Insanity Continues
Patrick G. EddingtonOn June 6, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued their latestreport on operations at internal checkpoints operated by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), previously requested by Senators Pat Leahy (D ‑VT), Patty Murray (D‑WA), Gary Peters (D‑MI) and Representative Bennie Thompson (D‑MS). Among the key findings:About 75 percent (12,194) of U.S. citizen drug seizure events involved marijuana only. About half of checkpoint events in which Border Patrol seized drugs from U.S. citizens (8,098 of 16,315) included the seizure of a personal use quantity of marijuana and no other drugs....
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 8, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Patrick G. Eddington Source Type: blogs
The New Deal and Recovery, Part 18: The Recovery So Far
George Selgin(Although my contributions to this series have so far been more-or-less in their proper order, this one isn ' t: it occurred to me only relatively recently that it would be worthwhile to take stock of the overall progress of the recovery up to the outbreak of the Roosevelt Recession before delving into that episode. Had I done this in the first place, this installment would be Part 10 of the series, with the present Part 10 and all subsequent installments moved up a notch. –Ed.)When it struck down the Agricultural Adjustment Act in January 1936, the Supreme Court dropped the final curtain on the original New...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 1, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: George Selgin Source Type: blogs
What are physician mortgages?
Selecting a mortgage can be daunting. Understanding the mortgage terms, the total cost, estimated property taxes and insurance, and the bottom line on a month-to-month expense can be a lot to take in. For many individuals, utilizing a mortgage to purchase a home can lead to months of underwriting, painful discovery and disclosure of financialRead more …What are physician mortgages? originally appeared inKevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 25, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/post-author/paul-morton" rel="tag" data-wpel-link="internal" > Paul Morton, CFP < /a > < /span > Tags: Finance Practice Management Source Type: blogs
New Study: End the Tax Exclusion, Return $1 Trillion to the Workers Who Earned It
Michael F. CannonThanks to an accident of history, the U.S. tax code treats employee health benefits differently from cash wages. The “tax exclusion” for employer‐sponsored health insurance shields workers from having to pay income or payroll taxes on compensation they receive in the form of health benefits.Economistshate the tax exclusion. It has done enormous harm to workers, patients, and overall economic productivity. It has literally ruined lives. Eliminating that tax differential may be the single most important thing Congress can do to make health care better, more affordable, and more secure.At the same ti...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 24, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Michael F. Cannon Source Type: blogs
Michigan Petition Fiasco Highlights Dysfunctional, Costly Ballot Access Laws
Andy CraigThe Michigan gubernatorial election is in turmoil after the state ’s Bureau of Elections determined that several Republican candidates submitted tens of thousands of invalid, fraudulent petition signatures. Thathas left many candidates, including the current frontrunner, short of the 15,000 signatures needed to appear on the primary ballot.This fiasco highlights America ’s problematic obsession with using high petitioning hurdles as barriers to ballot access. Unique among major democracies, many American states require thousands of signatures from eligible voters before a candidate can be placed on the ballot...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 24, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Andy Craig Source Type: blogs
Politicizing Business, From Florida to California
David BoazGovernment subsidies and other aid to private corporations are inefficient. They distort the market process and channel valuable resources to companies chosen by government, not by consumers. They are also subject to political influence. It ’s an old story, government decisionmakers awarding contracts, loans, and grants to companies run by their relatives, friends, donors, or allies. During the Obama administration, a major Obama donor andformer vice president Al Gore profited heavily from “green energy” subsidies. President Trump tried to hold the G7 Summit at his own Florida hotel, allowing him to ra...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 23, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Political Science, continued
Now I ' m going to say a bit about politics in the U.S. Elections -- certainly not in the U.S. -- are not machines for turning voters ' policy preferences into representation that produces them. Consider a current and very clear case. Polls consistently find that close to 70% of the electorate does not want Roe v. Wade to be overturned and wants abortion to remain legal. Yes, views about the circumstances under which it should be legal vary, but there is scant support for the bills being pushed through many state legislatures that would ban abortion entirely or allow it only under very narrow conditions. But despite ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - May 12, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Five Market ‐Oriented Policies to Help the U.S. Semiconductor Industry
Scott LincicomeWith Congress still considering a $50 billion-plus subsidy package for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, I ’ve discussed themany(many)reasonswhy such subsides are costly and unnecessary, as well as theignominious history of similar industrial policies in the United States. This doesn ’t mean, however, that the U.S. government should simply do nothing. Instead, there are many horizontal, pro-market policy reforms that would deliver substantial benefits to chipmakers and other capital-intensive advanced manufacturers in the United States while avoiding U.S. industrial policy’s common pitfalls – picking...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 5, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome Source Type: blogs
Free Domestic Electricity Threatens State Finances in India
Swaminathan S. Anklesaria AiyarIndia boasts that 40% of its power capacity is now based on renewables. But competition between political parties in election pledges has resulted in more and more states providing free electricity to domestic consumers. This subsidizes rather than taxes carbon. The Aam Admi Party won the recent state election in Punjab and has just implemented its pledge to provide 300 units of free power to households. Of Punjab ’s households 84% consume less than this, and currently average just 137 units per month. The subsidy could induce them to double consumption. The Aam Admi Party is seen as a ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 21, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar Source Type: blogs
Inflation Another Reason to Rethink Buy American Protectionism
Colin GrabowGovernment data released last week placed inflation at8.5 percent over the previous 12 months —the largest such increase since December 1981—withfresh reports noting particularly pronounced price hikes for building materials and supplies. Oddly, the Biden administration decided this was an opportune time to double down on its support for protectionist “Buy American” policies that limit the federal government’s ability to purchase cheaper imported goods when spending taxpayer dollars—and thusraise prices.During a speech last Thursday President Biden highlighted his administration ’s efforts to...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 20, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Colin Grabow Source Type: blogs
