The Wire
Doesn't Baltimore have bigger problems of its own it should be solving?
A Climate-Change Lawsuit Dead End
Cities seek to end-run federal law to carve up the fossil-fuel producers while they’re still producing free cash flow. Baltimore lost.
‘Baltimore joined other progressive cities in suing fossil-fuel producers for causing a public nuisance with their emissions and misleading consumers about their contributions to climate change. The city demanded that the companies pay damages for sundry climate harms allegedly resulting from their emissions.
‘No dice. “Global pollution-based complaints were never intended by Congress to be handled by individual states,” Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Videtta Brown, a Democratic appointee, explained in her ruling. “Federal law governs disputes involving air and water in their ambient state.”’
New Patent Guidance on AI Could Quash Innovation
AI is a tool. A computer is a tool. According to the PTO, if you use the former, you can’t have a patent. If you use the latter, you can. This is a good example of the kind of partial-equilibrium thinking we have described previously. This will inhibit innovation; it isn’t going to make innovation any easier. Fewer new drug discoveries. Fewer new technologies. Whoever put this arbitrary rule in place either doesn’t believe this outcome or doesn’t care. As they say in the Navy, “it’s not my part ship.”
‘New guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office would make it harder for Americans to patent inventions developed with help from artificial-intelligence programs. This could stifle cutting-edge research and deprive Americans of lifesaving and life-enhancing products.’
House Financial Services Hearing Warns of Regulatory ‘Ambiguity’ Governing FinTech-FI Partnerships
In the cost-benefit analysis behind regulations, it helps regulators to discount to zero the cost of foregone future benefits from innovation that was rendered impossible by bureaucracy. This appears to be what they’re doing. Perhaps the logic is, if I can’t measure it, then I can’t include it.
‘But according to his testimony, “the ability to continue this pace of product innovation and improvements for our customers is hampered today. There is an increasing patchwork of state laws and regulations that are not keeping up with changes in technology, data and analytics that allow Enova to tailor credit products to individuals with lower credit scores and growing small businesses with limited assets to use as security for loans.”’
A NEW ERA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION
The real panic felt by the pro-regulation, pro-constraint crowd is that they fear the ability of Congress to do its job. When members of Congress are too busy building up their social media profiles or campaigning for holders of higher office, they may not be as focused on the mundane beauty of writing clear, focused legislation for which there is little fanfare.
‘Now more than ever it is important for Congress to take action for rivers and clean water. With agencies now constrained in their ability to broadly interpret the law in favor of environmental protection, Congress must make clear its intentions to protect clean water for all. The end of Chevron deference is a call for Congress to write laws better and more explicitly as well as an opportunity for states to step up their own regulatory regimes, filling a gap now found at the federal level.’
United States: Supreme Court Redefines Crypto Regulation
Could Loper unleash crypto on the masses?
‘Joanna Wasick, an attorney at BakerHostetler, pointed out that Loper Bright’s lawyer, Paul Clement, had explicitly used crypto as an example to show how the SEC exceeded its authority.’
Ernst Works to Rein in Washington Overreach
Preview of some of the legislation to curtail the civil service.
‘Several of Ernst’s solutions to hold bureaucrats accountable and make government work better for the American people include:
· Bringing decision-making closer to the American people and making government responsive to the real needs of Americans by introducing the Strategic Withdrawal of Agencies for Meaningful Placement (SWAMP) Act, which moves the headquarters of federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C. and distributes them across America and among the people most impacted by agency decisions;
· Cutting red tape and repealing outdated requirements by introducing the Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act, which would force a review of current federal regulations to cut down costs and ease the burden on households, family farms, and small businesses; and
· Requiring federal bureaucrats who are “teleworking” on the taxpayer’s dime to show up for work by supporting the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act.’
Column: City’s needless bureaucracy harms transparency
Canadian city decides that journalists need to go through a screener. Up until this point, they could approach politicians to ask their questions. Also, journalists must wear a city-issued identification badge. This is either a make-work project for someone’s brother-in-law or this is a transparent effort to control the flow of information.
‘Among new rules affecting media access the city instituted without consulting local journalists, reporters who wish to interview an elected official must now go to a designated waiting area.
‘Once there, journalists are to let city communications staff know which member(s) of city council they’re interested in talking to. The staff member will then bring the requested member(s) to the designated waiting area, which I will refer to hereafter as the media pen.’
Bureaucracy cuts boost growth, raise concerns
It is an interesting question. How much should businesses factor in bureaucracy into their decision-making? They don’t understand it, typically. They just take it for granted. It should shape strategy, at least to an extent.
‘This isn’t the end of regulatory and bureaucracy issues. Understanding the implications of bureaucracy on businesses can assist in strategy development and adaptation. While regulation and bureaucracy often have a negative connotation, they are also essential in protecting business interests and maintaining market stability. The future trajectory depends heavily on the strategic decisions made by regulatory bodies.’