Wisdom from T. Boone against Rent-Seeking Pickens (remember when you said ….?)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 27, 2011 9 Comments

“The two greatest enemies of free enterprise in the United States … have been, on the one hand, my fellow intellectuals and, on the other hand, the business corporations of this country.”

– Milton Friedman. “Which Way for Capitalism?” Reason, May 1977, p. 21.

Special government favor. A little something for nothing at the other’s expense…. Sure, a particular business or industry can gain in the short run. But when everyone is getting the booty, almost all lose.

Just look where government is today. The chronic, gargantuan federal budget deficit is testament to the Enrons then, GEs now  receiving government subsidies from either the U.S. Treasury or the tax code. The rest of us pay (or will pay) what the rent-seekers are getting and not paying for (outside of their lobbying costs).…

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Electricity: The Master Form of the Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 26, 2011 2 Comments

“Great are the powers of electricity,” commented a newspaper story in the late 19th century about the fascinating new energy source. “It makes millionaires. It paints devils’ tails in the air and floats placidly in the waters of the earth. It hides in the air. It creeps into every living thing.” (1)

Electricity is the most utilitarian of energies and the master form of the master resource, as explained below by leading experts and even some critics of energy. Just ask residential users, commercial establishments, or the manufacturing facilities if they want to pay more or less for power.

And so it was distressing to hear Barack Obama in a moment of ‘green’ candor declare that electricity prices would “skyrocket” under a cap-and-trade program to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.  In his exact words and phrasing from November 2008:

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.

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NAS Panel Backs Manufactured Crisis to Tame Climate Change

By Chip Knappenberger -- May 25, 2011 8 Comments

House Energy and Commerce Committee members Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) have requested a climate-science hearing in light of a just-released report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). This report, “America’s Climate Choices,” however, presents no new science.

Instead, as climate scientist Chip Knappenberger explains below, the NAS document lays out a strategy for manufacturing a crisis by exaggerating the climate threat and artificially raising fossil-fuel prices in an effort to compel American’s to emit less greenhouse gases.

Congress has heard all of this before and has been unmoved to pass legislation which will raise the price of living and doing business in America by taxing our primary energies–Editor.

Plentiful and inexpensive fossil fuels are the preferred energy source, whether it be to run your car, heat your home, or generate electricity.…

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Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part III: Monopoly, Monopoly Profits, Subterfuge, and Obstructionism Reconsidered)

By Eric Lowe -- May 18, 2011 No Comments

[Ed. note: This post, taken from Robert Bradley’s Oil, Gas and Government: The U.S. Experience, rebutes the textbook criticisms of the business practices and economic consequences of the Standard Oil Trust. Part I summarized the manifold contributions of John D. Rockefeller to a fledgling, powerhouse industry. Part II provided a critical interpretation of rebate and other ‘unfair’ practices of Rockefeller’s Trust. (Documentation for this post can be found on pp. 1099–1103.)]

If Standard is labeled a monopoly because of its large market share, a liberal application of the “single seller” criterion, it should be recognized that outside of oil tariffs that Standard neither wanted nor needed, Standard was a free-market, not a governmental, monopoly. Standard had to continually offer quality products at competitive prices to gain and keep its dominant market share.…

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Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part II: 'Unfair' practices and rebates reconsidered)

By Eric Lowe -- May 17, 2011 1 Comment Continue Reading

Standard Oil: A Centennial Evaluation (Part I: John D. Rockefeller's entrepreneurial genius)

By Eric Lowe -- May 16, 2011 2 Comments Continue Reading

The Great Energy Resource Debate (Part II: Neo-Malthusian Alarmism)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 13, 2011 6 Comments Continue Reading

Remembering the Birth of Conservationism (Part II: Amory Lovins's "Soft Energy Path")

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 3, 2011 7 Comments Continue Reading

Remembering the Birth of Conservationism (Part I: President Nixon's price controls, not Arab OPEC, produced energy crisis, demand-side politicization)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 2, 2011 3 Comments Continue Reading

Natural Gas: A Better "Climate" Fossil Fuel?

By Chip Knappenberger -- April 29, 2011 9 Comments Continue Reading