December 21, 1999

Sweeping changes to your gasoline
Democrats differ on health care
McCain calls for new Park Service funds
Macao returned to China

Sweeping changes to your gasoline

The Environmental Protection Agency will issue rules that mandate oil companies produce cleaner gasoline. The EPA will also force the auto industry to produce SUVs that meet the same stringent emissions standards as automobiles. The move is designed to reduce the level of sulfur in catalytic converters and will most certainly raise the price of gasoline to the consumer.

Writing in Regulation magazine, David Schoenbrod notes that the nationalization of environmental policy is both radical and recent. In "Why States, Not EPA, Should Set Pollution Standards" he writes: "Mandates issued forth from Washington in tax-code-like abstractions, their terms dictated by the complex interplay between Congress, the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal judiciary, and various special interest groups, including the self-described public interest groups."

In Clearing the Air: The Real Story of the War on Air Pollution, Indur Goklany finds that the free market is responsible for the cleaner air we enjoy, not federal mandates. America's air quality is better today than ever before in modern history and continues to steadily improve, thanks to improvements in technology.

Democrats differ on health care

Both Bill Bradley and Al Gore have proposed comprehensive health care plans that they would try to enact as president. Bradley's plan would cost $40 billion per year more than Gore's plan, with the money going to pay for a new entitlement -- subsidized health care for those already covered, as well as those without any health care.

In "Four Cheers for Bill Bradley," Greg Scandlen analyzes Bradley's plan -- the good parts, the bad, and the ugly. Sue A. Blevins examined the continuing flaws of American health care in "Restoring Health Freedom: The Case for a Universal Tax Credit for Health Insurance." She proposes a universal tax credit, along with legislation to make Medical Savings Accounts available to all Americans as the solution to the health care problem.

McCain calls for new Park Service funds

At a campaign stop in New Hampshire, GOP contender John McCain said he wants to "revitalize" national parks, which he claims face a shortfall of $5 billion needed for capital improvements, reports the Washington Post. McCain said he would make up the shortfall by issuing taxable bonds from Alaskan oil lease revenue recently awarded to the federal government.

In "How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands" Terry L. Anderson, Vernon L. Smith, and Emily Simmons find that the government has done a terrible job of managing federal lands -- which make up one-third of the United States. In 1996 alone, the Park Service lost more than $1.2 billion, the Forest Service lost $260 million and the Bureau of Land Management lost $41 million -- on land worth billions. Their solution is to auction off land for certificates to be distributed equally to all Americans.

Macao returned to China

Chinese army troops arrived in Macao today, marking the end of an era as the former Portuguese colony was officially handed back to China. Local residents cheered the arrival of the army, in hopes they will keep the gang war for power of the casinos under control. reports the New York Times. When China resumed control over Hong Kong in 1997, the army quietly arrived in the former British colony, without much fanfare.

In "Market Reforms for China," a Cato conference held in Shanghai, China in 1997, speakers discussed the need for China to move all the way to a genuine free private market. Increasing capital inflows, particularly investments made by overseas Chinese, such as those in Macao, have had a profound effect on the Chinese economy. Approximately 67 percent of foreign direct investment in China comes from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. It is hoped that Macao's hand-over will be as smooth as Hong Kong's was -- it is in China's best economic interests.