It’s a straightforward observation: when government is presented with a problem, there is a strong tendency to use some form of rationing as a major part of the solution. We see this in health care, water supplies, electricity, and many other aspects of government regulated or government-run operations. It’s is a reasonable to unexpected emergencies, like World War II shortages or hurricane interruptions, But it is an unreasonable response to chronic problems. So why is it the preferred tool? I think it is because it does not require long term planning, it enhances government authority, and it perpetuates an illusion of fairness.

There is renewed interest, and actual progress, in building new nuclear power plants in the United States.¹ A news broadcast last nigh covered plans to build a new plant near existing ones on the Chesapeake Bay. The broadcasters provided an opportunity for a spokesman from the Union of Concerned Scientists to opine that such a power plant could produce an incident like Chernobyl. He specifically claimed that a loss of coolant would result in a spread of nuclear material just like Chernobyl. This claim is nonsense.

Bill Moyers, the resident socialist on the U.S. Public Broadcasting System, claimed that private water companies should be seized on the grounds that water is too important to be left to private enterprise. I am arguing the opposite, that we would be better off if as much of the market for water was privatized as possible. I am granting that some aspects of water supply development and delivery are better left to government right now. Nonetheless, the government should take positive steps to expand private markets.

Peak oil theory is that oil production will not just peter out, it will fall catastrophically starting right now, and that no alternative energy source will arise to take its place. The result will be inevitable disaster, so they say. A book advocating peak oil theory starts by erroneously begins with a false application of the concept of a closed system. It’s worth setting straight.

The main objection to developing the oil resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is the potential impact on the Porcupine Caribou herd that migrates through the area. The arguments are made in terms of broad generalities, along the lines of “caribou are in the same area, so they are threatened.” If one tries to quantify the threat, is turns out that perhaps 1% of the herd might be impacted in some way, but the actual reduction in the herd size is probably a good deal less.

There is plenty of oil in offshore areas already leased to oil companies, so why don’t the oil companies just go get that oil rather than ask for new leases. The reason is that the current price of oil is not high enough to make it profitable.

The reason why the Americans, Europeans, Japanese and others who buy oil want the price of oil to go down is that their economies would benefit if it dropped. The Saudis, Mexicans, Norwegians, and others who produce oil would like the price of oil to rise, because their economies would benefit if it did. Clearly, it is not so much about the price as it is whether you are buying or selling, and most importantly, how much.

Fred arrives home and goes into his heated TV room. He switches on two lamps that consume 60 watts of electric power each. He switches on his wide-screen TV that draws 300 watts. The environment outside the room stays precisely the same, which is typical of quiz problem weather. … When the room stabilizes again, how much electric power will be flowing into the room, counting all the devices?

The two leading candidates for becoming major alternative energy sources are wind and solar. Both are subject to outages. The sun goes down at night and the wind sometimes fails to blow. So what do we do during the interruptions?

The broad claim is that oil prices are high in significant part because the money is pocketed by oil company executives. It isn’t just Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats who make the claim. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly has been as outspoken as anyone about the huge payouts. So how much are we paying at the pump that goes to these rich guys?