I hope that this gets slapped down by the courts. One of the next laws that should be repealed after ObamaCare is the Wagner Act.
Category Archives: Economics
The Reason For High Unemployment
The president is completely and totally wrong about it. No surprise — he’s completely and totally wrong about most things.
Good Russian Businessmen
I’ve said for years that no one, including the Russians, knows how much their space activities and hardware costs, because of the nature of their economy, in which proper cost accounting never existed under the Soviets. Presumably they have had time to fix this problem, but they don’t seem to have done so:
Russian engineering corporation Energomash sold rocket engines to the United States at half production cost, losing $32 million as a result, the Russian Comptroller’s Office said on Wednesday.
It did not say how many RD-180 engines were sold, only saying the loss was sustained in 2008-09, constituting 68 percent of the firm’s total losses.
This is going to be a headache for United Launch Alliance, which is going to have to purchase more engines in the future for the Atlas, and the price is likely now going to more than double, which means yet another increase in their costs. I think that Aerojet is actually licensed to manufacture the engines here, but they’ve never done so because it would cost much more than it has been to purchase from Energomash. This may change that calculation, but I’m not sure that it’s going to make sense even at the higher purchase price. It may still be cheaper to buy Russian. Of course, there could be a point at which the Pentagon makes a decision to subsidize the price, just for reasons of national security, to reduce our dependence on a nation that does not have our best interests at heart. If only we could get Congress to be sensible about Commercial Crew, so we can end our dependence on the Soyuz as soon as possible.
Why Gas Prices Are High
Because the Democrats want them to be. But don’t call them liberals. They’re not.
Congressional Rocket Follies
Mark Matthews has the latest on the absurdities of the Senate Launch System.
Government Motors
The GM bailout remains a bad idea. And I say that as someone with an immediate family member whose job was probably saved by it (though we’ll never know what the outcome of a conventional bankruptcy would have been).
California’s Coming Train Wreck
…over high-speed rail. The plan is lunacy, really.
Why I Support Mitch Daniels
I like his choice of books.
[Via Virginia Postrel, the author of one of them]
[Update later morning]
Daniels thinks that he could beat Obama if he runs.
The US Corporate Tax Rate
Yes, it is high. The corporate tax should be abolished.
When Light Bulbs Are Outlawed
…only outlaws will have light bulbs:
The Incandescent Light Bulb Freedom Act, which unanimously passed South Carolina’s Senate panel, would allow South Carolina manufacturers to continue to sell incandescent bulbs so long as they have “Made in South Carolina” on them and are sold only within the state. Other states have floated the idea, and last year Arizona passed a bill that would have done the same thing, but Governor Jan Brewer (R) vetoed the legislation.
Whether the legislation becomes law remains to be seen, and even if it does become law, lawsuits will likely ensue. Regardless, South Carolina’s efforts demonstrate the will to remove the federal government’s ability to restrict individual choice. If the compact florescent light bulb (CFL) is a better choice, consumers will make that choice without the government’s push.
But it isn’t, and they won’t, so the energy nazis must push.