A California company has been hired to provide 450,000 gallons of advanced biofuels to the U.S. Navy – the “single largest purchase of biofuel in government history,” according to the Navy – at $15 per gallon, or about four times the market price of conventional jet fuel. The Institute for Energy Research unearthed the purchase in a recent post on its website: Last week, the Navy signed a contract with two biofuel companies to purchase 450,000 gallons of advanced biofuels at $12 million to assist in President Obama’s goal to …
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would, among other things, open the door for the creation of thousands of new jobs, prevent a tax hike on American workers, and help reduce the crippling deficit. However, President Barack Obama has promised that he would bring the legislation to a halt with a veto—all because of his opposition to the single measure in the bill that would create jobs. What’s so offensive that would cause the President to level a veto threat? A provision …
Because the concept of opportunity cost is fundamental to all of economics, it is covered in the first chapter of every principles-of-economics textbook. Opportunity cost tells us what we give up when make decisions on consumption and production. There are no free lunches. In spite of the universal agreement on the importance of opportunity cost, there is nearly universal omission of the concept in studies purporting to show job creation from regulation, subsidies, and mandates. The recent study for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) follows this disturbing pattern. Hoping …
President Obama recently lectured Americans on economics during a campaign stop in Osawatomie, Kansas. The New York Times congratulated President Obama’s speech as a potent blow against market economics. Cal-Berkeley professor Robert Reich called it the most important speech of his presidency. The Kansas City Star gushed over his good policy and good politics. In reality, President Obama disastrously misdiagnosed the source of U.S. economic problems: Over the last few decades, huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less, and it’s made it easier for them …
Last week, in Merída, Mexico, the leaders of Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia met to affirm their shared commitment to economic integration, growth, and competitiveness. You may not have heard of the summit. In fact, a Google search of recent U.S. news articles covering the meeting of the “Pacific Alliance” turns up only nine results. It seems that while the United States’ key partners in Latin America were meeting to discuss critical economic and trade issues, America failed to pay much attention. America’s disregard, however, makes little sense. With a …
In a recent speech in Kansas, President Obama launched a diatribe against “trickle-down” economic policies. Not only did President Obama mischaracterize conservative tax policy, but facts rebut his claim that these policies have been a failure. The President began by invoking his understanding of conservative economic philosophy: “If the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else.” “Trickle down” is of course a disingenuous misnomer invented by the left to stigmatize conservative supply-side economic policies. It implies favoring the rich—that doing so will …
On Friday, December 9, 2011, Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), with several cosponsors, introduced H.R. 3630, the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011.” The 369-page bill consists of six titles, main elements of which are discussed below. Title I of the bill gets the government out of the way of a pipeline project so the private sector can create some jobs. The bill provides a mechanism for prompt approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project, to allow oil to flow from Alberta, Canada to U.S. gulf coast …
Critics of the Supreme Court of the United States sometimes say that the Court is hopelessly divided on the issues and does not mean what it says in its opinions. But a decision handed down today helps put the lie to both criticisms. Not only was the Court unanimous, but it also made clear that it means what it has been saying – repeatedly – over the past decade: namely, federal courts cannot grant habeas corpus relief to a state prisoner if the state courts’ decision to deny him relief …
Occupy protesters across the West Coast began blocking major ports on Monday in protest of “exploitation by capitalism,” as one protestor put it. Beginning at about 8 a.m. Eastern time, the protests are attempts to shut down ports in numerous cities from Anchorage to San Diego. The specter of violence appeared within an hour of the beginning of the demonstrations. Police in Portland, Ore., confiscated weapons, including a firearm with extra ammunition magazines, from two men who claimed to be headed to the protests, as the Associated Press reports: Officers …
In a decision that should cheer those who believe in the rule of law and want to see our federal immigration laws enforced (despite all of the efforts of the Obama Administration to prevent that from happening), the Supreme Court today accepted Arizona’s petition for certiorari in the lawsuit filed against the state’s immigration law by the Justice Department. That means that the Supreme Court will make the final decision on whether Arizona’s law (SB 1070) is constitutional. SB 1070, which has served as a model for other states such …
