I liked “I Love Lucy.” One of my favorite things in the show was when Lucy would get in trouble and Ricky would tell her that she had some “‘splaining to do.” A friend and I had a brief discussion on Facebook about energy efficiency. And it reminded me how twisted the definition of ‘efficiency’…
Category: Consumers
How Convenient: Trump’s Environmental Stance May Harm Six Year Old Girls
Update: @claires tells NBC 10 Consumer Advocate @NBC10_Emily it has hired an independent lab to test products that may contain asbestos. https://t.co/rtLTkINSdA pic.twitter.com/zFm0BSArcF — NBC 10 WJAR (@NBC10) December 28, 2017 Claire’s, the cosmetic and accessories company for young women, recently recalled nine cosmetic products because a mother had tested her six-year-old daughter’s makeup kit containing…
Markets, Not the Governing Elite, Secure Life, Liberty, and Prosperity
A recent article by the Niskanen Center tries to make the case that regulations should be considered beneficial unless proven otherwise. The thing is is that we don’t need data to understand whether the effects caused by regulation are on balance good or bad. Liberty tells us that the cumulative effect of regulations will be…
Cronyism & Comcast
Comcast is in the process of buying Time Warner Cable, a deal that will create the largest cable provider in the U.S. The FCC, of course, has to approve the deal. It is no surprise that Comcast and Time Warner Cable have done their best to grease the wheels for approval through political donations and…
Let’s Break Up Tiger Woods
In the aftermath of Tiger Woods’ dominant victory in the recent American Express Championship golf tournament, a number of Wood’s competitors announced they will be asking the U.S. Department of Justice to file suit seeking the breakup of Woods for violating federal antitrust laws. “He’s dominating the game,” said Adam Scott, who finished second, eight…
Making Electricity More Expensive
Tuesday’s hearing by the Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee helped shine some light on the challenges of Texas’ green energy efforts. While we heard great things about the state’s energy efficiency program, we didn’t hear how much the program costs consumers–so i helped out with some testimony. Since 2002, Texas consumers have paid $591.1…
When the Going Gets Tough, Let the Government Handle it
Plano Lowers the Cost of Living
It is not often that governments voluntarily reduces fees or taxes. So when one does, it is worth taking a closer look. Last month, Plano voted to eliminate impact fees on developers building new homes and businesses. The fees were charged based on the size of the water meter for the project, and typically ran…
Consumer Protection Usually Doesn’t Live Up to its Name
It seems as if the folks in Washington don’t have enough to do with taking over the American financial, automobile, and health care industries. The talk now is about creating a new consumer protection agency to “protect … the financial well-being of American consumers.” While this may sound like a good cause, a review of…
TX Legislature in Review: Financial Regulation
It is not high finance, but short-term lending helps a lot of consumers out of tight places. This session, multiple bills would have significantly reduced or banned short-term lending. Banks and credit unions generally won’t make short-term loans, so people in need of quick access to funds have to turn higher cost alternatives. While critics…