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  Crony Capitalism With a Touch of Green Virginia Postrel devotes her Bloomberg column to the light bulb issue: "It was crony capitalism with a touch of green." More: "Though sponsored largely by Democrats, the ban was a bipartisan effort. It never would have become law without support from Republican senators and the signature of President Bush. Through filibuster and veto threats, Republicans got other changes in the 2007 energy bill -- changes that had vocal corporate constituencies -- but they didn't fight the light bulb ban." It's a really excellent column all the way through. And well-timed — though Ms. Postrel doesn't mention it, President Obama is reportedly headed Monday for "Durham, N.C., where he will meet with the Jobs and Competitiveness Council at the corporate and U.S. manufacturing headquarters of Cree, a leading manufacturer of energy efficient LED lighting." Easton, Postrel Win Bastiat Prize Tom Easton of the Economist and Virginia Postrel of Bloomberg split the $50,000 award for the Bastiat Prize for Journalism, which was awarded Wednesday night at a dinner in New York. Mr. Easton won in part for an Economist piece headlined Bamboo Capitalism. It concluded, "Too many people—not just third-world dictators but Western business tycoons—have fallen for the Beijing consensus, the idea that state-directed capitalism and tight political control are the elixir of growth. In fact China has surged forward mainly where the state has stood back. 'Capitalism with Chinese characteristics' works because of the capitalism, not the characteristics." Virginia Postrel on the Higher-Education Bubble Virginia Postrel has a column up at Bloomberg View about federal student aid and skyrocketing college tuition: "Federal subsidies intended to make college more affordable may have encouraged rapidly rising tuitions....Figuring out exactly what's going on is tricky, because colleges price discriminate, offering steep discounts to some students while charging list prices to others. Treating published tuition as the real price of a college education is like believing the sticker price on a used car." Postrel on Shoes Virginia Postrel's Bloomberg View column is about shoes: "One reason for shoes' current cultural prominence is the sheer number of pairs people own today. Americans bought seven pairs per person last year, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association. That's down from a peak of slightly more than eight pairs in 2006 but still high by historical standards." That is a lot of shoes, and a reminder that no matter how badly the economy is doing under President Obama, Americans today, by "historical standards" or even the standards of the rest of the world, have it pretty good. Postrel on Shoes Virginia Postrel's Bloomberg View column is about shoes: "One reason for shoes' current cultural prominence is the sheer number of pairs people own today. Americans bought seven pairs per person last year, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association. That's down from a peak of slightly more than eight pairs in 2006 but still high by historical standards." That is a lot of shoes, and a reminder that no matter how badly the economy is doing under President Obama, Americans today, by "historical standards" or even the standards of the rest of the world, have it pretty good. Virginia Postrel on the Higher-Education Bubble Virginia Postrel has a column up at Bloomberg View about federal student aid and skyrocketing college tuition: "Federal subsidies intended to make college more affordable may have encouraged rapidly rising tuitions....Figuring out exactly what's going on is tricky, because colleges price discriminate, offering steep discounts to some students while charging list prices to others. Treating published tuition as the real price of a college education is like believing the sticker price on a used car." Easton, Postrel Win Bastiat Prize Tom Easton of the Economist and Virginia Postrel of Bloomberg split the $50,000 award for the Bastiat Prize for Journalism, which was awarded Wednesday night at a dinner in New York. Mr. Easton won in part for an Economist piece headlined Bamboo Capitalism. It concluded, "Too many people—not just third-world dictators but Western business tycoons—have fallen for the Beijing consensus, the idea that state-directed capitalism and tight political control are the elixir of growth. In fact China has surged forward mainly where the state has stood back. 'Capitalism with Chinese characteristics' works because of the capitalism, not the characteristics." Crony Capitalism With a Touch of Green Virginia Postrel devotes her Bloomberg column to the light bulb issue: "It was crony capitalism with a touch of green." More: "Though sponsored largely by Democrats, the ban was a bipartisan effort. It never would have become law without support from Republican senators and the signature of President Bush. Through filibuster and veto threats, Republicans got other changes in the 2007 energy bill -- changes that had vocal corporate constituencies -- but they didn't fight the light bulb ban." It's a really excellent column all the way through. And well-timed — though Ms. Postrel doesn't mention it, President Obama is reportedly headed Monday for "Durham, N.C., where he will meet with the Jobs and Competitiveness Council at the corporate and U.S. manufacturing headquarters of Cree, a leading manufacturer of energy efficient LED lighting."
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