It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. –Murray N. Rothbard

This is regard to the statement in the Gizmodo article about how Comcast won in court against the FCC and its attempt to stop it from banning BitTorrent traffic.

The FCC’s changed too, with a new administration. Obama’s FCC has gotten even more aggressively pro-consumer and pro-competition—promising to make net neutrality the law, even applying it to carriers like AT&T, and doing things releasing tools to check your broadband connection.

Apparently the author never took economics 101… or even bothered to think about what was being said. Net-Neutrality, as with all forms of regulation, are by definition limiting competition by removing that particular feature from the competitive pool (ignore black markets). And empirically licenses or other requirements are often included in such regulations which raises the barrier to entry further limiting competition. So… what Rothbard said.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/news/20100330/fda-panel-new-tanning-bed-restrictions-needed

A ban on tanning-bed use by people with the palest skin is among several new restrictions recommended by an FDA advisory panel.

Earlier reports from the panel’s March 25 meeting focused on its advice to restrict tanning bed use to adults age 18 and older. But that wasn’t the only restriction the panel advised the FDA to adopt.

Perhaps the most interesting change would be the panel’s recommendation to prohibit the use of tanning beds by people with Fitzpatrick skin type 1. People with this very pale skin type (such as red-haired people with freckles) get sunburns instead of tans when exposed to sunlight or tanning lamps.

The biggest recommended change is the panel’s unanimous proposal to change tanning beds’ Class I device designation, the least restrictive classification intended for devices that pose minimal risk to users or operators. Elastic bandages and hand-held surgical devices are examples of Class I devices.

Half the panel supported making tanning beds Class II devices, which require special assurances — such as labeling requirements or mandatory performance standards — that they will not cause harm. Class II devices include X-ray machines and powered wheelchairs.

The other half of the panel wants tanning beds listed as Class III devices, which not only require special controls such as operator training requirements but require premarket approval by the FDA. Class III devices include implanted pacemakers and silicon breast-augmentation gels.

The panel also recommended other special controls:

* Strengthening current requirements for protective eyewear
* Equipping tanning beds with mechanisms that prevent their activation until a customer acknowledges reading and accepting a series of warnings about indoor tanning risks
* A registry program for all tanning bed users, possibly supported by a user fee
* Strengthening requirements for tanning bed operator education, training, testing, and recertification
* Collection of data on the irradiance put out by tanning beds, possibly to be included in the user registry
* Restricting tanning bed use by pregnant women and by people who take certain drugs or use certain cosmetics that interact with UV light
* Even stronger restrictions on tanning beds sold for in-home use

The panel said there was no need to separately regulate tanning beds that are UV-A only, UV-B only, or a mixture of both.

Tie this in with the federal government’s takeover of the healthcare industry and digitizing of medical records and you’ve got the first glimpses into the growing nanny state. “You tan?! To the end of the queue!” When everyone pays for your healthcare, everyone wants to know what you’re doing to yourself and believe they have a say.

Can’t wait to see what the unintended consequences are when this gets implemented.

So you don’t like big banks eh?  Well this video might tickle your fancy.  It offers some good advice but also has some bad implications.  I’ll address them both.

Good Advice: If you don’t like the fact that the skewed, government-muddled economy props up huge banks, don’t support them.

Bad Implications: You can’t legislate your way out of it.  Legislation is the problem.  Seek other measures.

Anyway, I though it was well-put-together and made some decent points, so…

h/t US Solidarity Economy Network

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

“Japan’s problem is deflation, not inflation as far as an eye can see,” wrote Paul McCulley, a member of the investment committee, and Tomoya Masanao, the head of portfolio management for Japan, in a report on the Web site of Newport Beach, California-based Pimco. “An ‘all-in’ reflationary policy is what is needed.”

The BOJ may also consider promising to refrain from raising interest rates until inflation becomes “meaningfully positive,” McCulley and Masanao said.

this is just craziness as mish points out.

Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP level of any industrialized country to the tune of 227% of GDP. It has built bridges to nowhere, held interest rates at .1% for a decade, tried massive amounts of quantitative easing, Keynesian stimulus, and even at times sold Yen to buy dollars.

The result is two decades of total failure. Japan’s recession is 19 years running. The Nikkei hit 38,900 in 1990 and sits at 10,800 today, down 72% two decades later.

Japan has already gone “all in”. It has tried everything under the sun for two decades including Keynesianism, Monetarism, and selling its own currency to sink it. All it has to show for its efforts is a massive pile of debt equaling 227% of GDP.

how does one look back on the past 20ish years in japan and claim they haven’t inflated enough?

Definitions of Insanity

• In One Sentence: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting different results each time.
• In Two Words: Paul McCulley
• In One Word: Keynesianism
• In Another Word: Monetarism

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/12/china-faces-crash-scenario.html

Problems in China continue to mount. Money supply is growing rampantly out of control, property prices are in a bubble, exports are weak, commodity speculation is pervasive, and GDP growth is more of a mirage than real.

Follow the link above to get all the details… but here is a video about Ordos the empty city.