Oh Politics....

This is from Greg Mankiw.

The bill would give the federal government power over local building codes. It requires that by 2012 codes must require that new buildings be 30 percent more efficient than they would have been under current regulations. By 2016, that figure rises to 50 percent, with increases scheduled for years after that....

According to the bill's advocates, America's buildings account for perhaps 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse emissions, and technology is available for builders to meet the targets in ways that are economical for building owners. Much of the problem is old buildings that waste huge amounts of energy, which wouldn't necessarily be touched by the new code. But it would be good if builders met these efficiency goals with new construction.

First of all, the bill is 900 words. The stimulus bill out of Congress was 1,000+ pages. How the hell is anybody supposed follow along with either of these. More importantly, I'm sure people are dedicated to the cause of Global Warming and such, and I respect their passion. But if you don't realize that this bill is a ruse for shoveling money to certain constituencies, I think you need to look a little deeper. It may not be "pork", but I'm pretty sure every piece of regulation in these is the result of lobbying to the max. 

More specifically, this "Greening of America's Buildings" is more focused on 'jump-starting the job sector' than any "green concerns". Deceptive. Politics makes me sick and it's good to see Arnold really pouncing on this recently. Here, here, and here. (oh, and here).

Stimulus Doctor

When one talks about treating a terminally ill patient, I can imagine three general options. 1) No treatment, the patient accepts the situation and decides that this is the best path; 2) Prolong life as long as possible through standard procedures, maybe you catch a lucky break, maybe the diagnosis was wrong, but prolong the situation; 3) Try some radical new procedure that may lead to a breakthrough in medicine, possibly curing the patient, but at least bringing new insights into medical technology.  I think Obama and Congress so far are attempting (2) and (3). They are trying (2) by prolonging the status quo, hoping for some insight or an opportunity to make the right decision. They are trying (3) to the extent that the Keynesian multiplier has a pretty dismal history of success, but maybe this time, it will work; maybe this time we have the right combination of tax cuts and spending spending, and we have the right sizes of tax cuts and spending.

Well, the problem with this strategy is that the patient is NOT TERMINALLY ILL. America's GDP is not going to spiral to zero and America is not going to cease to exist. I think it is important for Congress to realize that America is extremely resourceful and will figure things out. Not to make sweeping generalizations or anything, but Americans have turned into wimps. We expect things to always go our way and any bump in the road is cause for calamity. Are things bad now? Yes. Will they get worse? Yes. Is that natural? YES! Instead of pumping this patient full of crazy drugs and praying that it gets better, how about prescribing some Advil and get out of the way.