Neutrality Now
Reports from the front lines of bureaucracy.
The FTC’s rule banning non-competes upends tens of millions of contracts with the stroke of a pen.
There will be unintended consequences.
How much of current wages embed a compensation for the non-compete clause? Will wages go down significantly?
Will employers be less interested in training their staff? Why invest in employees if you’re going to let your competitor take advantage of it?
Will there be more litigation? What will the social cost of this friction be? Will it be more difficult to shift jobs as potential hirers factor in this cost?
‘“You can't work for a competitor for a year” is a pretty clear rule; “you can't use our secrets at a competitor” will mean more lawsuits.”
Net Neutrality Is Still a Bad Idea
If it ain’t broke but it’s important, then a bureaucrat will dream of fixing it.
The FCC’s Pre-Crimes division is on the case when it comes to broadband, intervening where there is no offense. You know. Just in case.
Also, the FCC’s ability to forecast new technology trends is bound to disappoint. This will slow down adoption for new things.
“Tomorrow, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to vote on the Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet (SSOI) order to reclassify broadband networks as telecommunications. This would give the FCC vast regulatory power over the internet. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has defended this move, saying, “The pandemic made clear that broadband is an essential service, that every one of us — no matter who we are or where we live — needs it to have a fair shot at success in the digital age.” Yet the data dictate that networks free of the heavy-handed net-neutrality rules have consistently outperformed their counterparts. If the FCC truly wants to prioritize a better and more accessible internet, it should reject net neutrality altogether.”
New York Tries to Prune Its Illegal Marijuana Crop
Bureaucracy has prevented the State of New York from realizing the (theoretical) benefits of marijuana liberalization.
“Boosters of legal marijuana promised a utopia like something from the sunniest dreams of the 1960s: responsible use, oodles of tax revenue, and upstanding entrepreneurs instead of lawbreaking dealers. But in New York less than two years later, a thicket of illegal stores is crowding out licensees in a genuine fiasco.”
The FTC Decrees: No More Non-Compete Agreements
We’ve written before that government favors the large. Here’s another example.
“Without non-compete agreements, Big Tech companies in California can poach talent from startups by offering them higher pay and stock options. Ms. Khan’s rule will help deep-pocketed businesses while harming smaller ones. The FTC says companies can instead use lawsuits to protect trade secrets, but this ignores that it’s hard to safeguard employee know-how.”
New EPA Emissions Rules Squeeze Coal Plants
New regulation will force power plants to use a technology that doesn’t yet exist, at least not in a commercially reliable way. Or else.
“Plants operating past 2039 would need to install carbon-capture units before 2032 to comply with the new climate rules, according to EPA officials. A nationwide slowdown in permitting and constructing energy projects will test the utilities’ ability to deploy carbon capture and storage, which is mostly untried on a large scale.”