A Krugmaniacal bit of ridiculousness.

Or maybe I should say: another Krugmaniacal bit of ridiculous.

Today, NY Times columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman is bemoaning the Obama administration’s retreat from their new ozone regulations:

I’ve actually been avoiding thinking about the latest Obama cave-in, on ozone regulation; these repeated retreats are getting painful to watch. For what it’s worth, I think it’s bad politics…

…Let’s talk about the economics. Because the ozone decision is definitely a mistake on that front.

Skipping to the end:

And now you can see why tighter ozone regulation would actually have created jobs: it would have forced firms to spend on upgrading or replacing equipment, helping to boost demand.

Well, hey: awesome. That’s a great idea. Force businesses to spend…that provides work for other businesses that make the equipment; for the businesses that deliver the equipment; for the businesses that install and maintain the equipment. Work! Jobs!

Problem solved!

Hey, here’s another great idea: let’s have government mandate even more on businesses. How about…oh, how about wheelchair ramps? The long ones you see on private homes sometimes.

While we’re at it, why don’t we mandate those on private homes, too? And don’t I remember some abandoned idea for mandating handrails on every set of stairs? Was that abandoned? Bring it back!

Mandate that all business-owned vehicles meet with new, stricter emissions and safety regulations. Mandate that businesses stay open longer hours, to accommodate second- and third-shift workers. Mandate that it really does, in fact, take three employees to change a light bulb.

Like Krugman says:

…it would have forced firms to spend on upgrading or replacing equipment, helping to boost demand. Yes, it would have cost money – but that’s the point!

And naturally, when the economy turns around again, the federal government will repeal all those mandates, since they’re no longer needed for “creating jobs.”

Right?

(Posted by The TrogloPundit.)

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