Douglas Holtz-Eakin writes wisely about the fallacies surrounding so-called “supply chains.” Here’s his opening:
A supply chain is a series of commercial transactions that permits the final assembly and delivery of a good or service. A supply chain is what it needs to be – short, long, simple, complex, quick, or time-consuming. Firms pick the combination of the characteristics to deliver the best value proposition they can. So, while I can understand what a tax policy is, what a trade policy is, what an occupational safety regulation is, and myriad other federal policies, I fear there is no such thing as a supply-chain policy. Supply chains are the province of private firms.
Conservatives should tread carefully before using the legislative branch to ban woke behavior. Any provisions that limit the power of woke leftists could and would be used against conservatives as well. Furthermore, it is not clear that limiting companies’ political behaviors, including actions that may cost them their own consumers, would be effective. In fact, banning wokeness would be an excellent means of boosting its popularity.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental right set out in the Constitution. While it’s not a violation of free speech for platforms to monitor and regulate the speech occurring on their own platforms, free speech is threatened when targeted regulation is introduced to force the supervision of speech on platforms. Clegg claims regulation is the only way to prevent the United States from “becoming a nation that exports incredible technologies but fails to export its values.”
But his call for regulation of political speech on platforms is a paradox. If protection of speech is so fundamental to American values, then any regulation that suppresses political speech goes against those values. Political speech has long been protected by the Supreme Court, and Congress should not threaten that right just because the speech has moved online.
My intrepid Mercatus Center colleague Veronique de Rugy is no Keynesian.
I’m always honored to be a guest of Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson.
According to Arnold Kling, inflation in the U.S. is now running at about 8 percent annually.
Kyle Torpey recounts Paul Krugman’s decade-long history of being mistaken about Bitcoin.
Pierre Lemieux reminds us of the centrality of exchange.
David Waugh is understandably impressed with Jim Otteson’s new book, Seven Deadly Economic Sins.
I thank Oren Cass for inviting me to this discussion in American Compass’s “Critics Corner.”
