Benjamin Zycher

Sometimes, reading the news, it seems we are drowning in a sea of risks. Every day, dozens of news articles proclaim some activity, some exposure, some change in the environment exposes us to new and terrifying risks. And every day, governments in developed countries pop out regulations to ensure that we make those changes in behavior to address those supposed risks, whether we want to or not. You probably think such claims, and regulation of risk are backed up by something resembling actual real-world evidence of harm. You probably assume that governments, when regulating, are relying on hard data: physical observations of exposures to a potential harm, physical measurements of harms that result from exposure, and that sort of thing. But if you assume that, you are probably wrong. Since the computer revolution of the 1970s, actual hard evidence of risk have been replaced, both in the estimation of risks, and in the regulation of risks, with computer models simulations of reality - that may have little or no relation to the actual reality in which actual people live. The book is about the influence of computer risk-modeling on public policy, specifically, the giant gushing fountain of EHS regulations that have poured forth since the 1970s. That shift to simulation of risk has led to a massive increase in regulation: a Plague of Regulation that rests on the Plague of Models.

This book presents the papers and discussant comments delivered at the first Milken Institute for Job and Capital Formation conference, held October 21–23, 1992, in Santa Monica, California. The papers offer findings on links between economic policy and economic growth. .

The links between economic policy and economic growth are simultaneously obvious and obscure, with many factors interacting to influence the overall process. The list of relevant parameters affecting economic growth of interest to scholars and policymakers is lengthy and expanding. Although the importance of government policy is widely recognized,

The Green New Deal (GND) represents a massive increase in the power of government over the ability of individuals and businesses to use their resources in ways that they deem appropriate. Yet despite its purported goal of limiting future temperature increases by drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it will likely have no measurable impact on temperatures. At its core, the GND is the substitution of central planning in place of market forces for resource allocation, specifically in the US energy and transportation sectors and more broadly in the broad industrial, business, and housing sectors. A GND policy would yield no benefits in its central energy, environment, and climate context, but it would impose large economic costs.

This volume examines the outlook for renewable energy in electricity generation-particularly wind and solar power-as a substitute for conventional fuels such as coal and natural gas. Economist Benjamin Zycher evaluates the central arguments in favor of policies that would make way for broader use of renewables and concludes that all are deeply problematic. "Renewable" energy sources are not superior in cost to conventional fuels; nor are they less taxing on the environment. The popular argument that increased use of renewables will create "green jobs" is likewise a fallacy-because wind and solar power are costly and inefficient, the net economic impact is a negative one. Zycher concludes that resource-use behaviors emerging from market competition are the best guides to effective, sustainable energy policies.

Contains papers and discussants' comments from a conference on economic and political-security subjects of mutual concern to China and the United States. Since 1998, the China Reform Forum in Beijing and The RAND Corporation have jointly organized an annual conference of experts from China and the United States. The conference focuses on economic and political-security subjects of mutual concern to China and the United States. It seeks to enhance mutual understanding among scholars and policymakers from both nations. This volume contains papers and discussant comments from the 2003 conference.

The author develops a range of rough estimates of the benefits and costs of a U. S. counterterrorism effort in the context of moderate (based on Northern Ireland in 1999), severe (recent Israeli experience), and nuclear terrorist attacks against the United States. The analysis suggests that the marginal benefit may exceed the marginal cost, and thus that spending may in fact be little. Another important facet of the problem is who is to finance the counterterrorism efforts the federal government or state or local agencies.

The authors consider how and by how much China's stellar economic performance might be impaired by eight potential adversities that China may face in the next decade.