Japan energy deregulation history. Japan Unveils Deregulation Plan to Boost Clean Energy Use. Japan plans to speed up the process of environmental impact assessments for wind farms and ease regulations for solar power plants as it prepares to start a feed-in tariff program in July. The Cabinet Office today unveiled a set of measures and policies to promote renewable energy and energy saving and reform the country’s power distribution systems. The move comes as Japan seeks to diversify its energy mix following the devastating nuclear accident a year ago at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. Starting in October, wind farm developers will be required to conduct environmental surveys before starting construction.
The trade ministry plans to shorten the maximum time for deliberation for each of three steps to 30 days from as many as 270 days, according to a Cabinet Office report mapping out the measures and policies. To contact the reporters on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net. Utility Reform Eluding Japan After Nuclear Plant Disaster. "Whatever Happened to Japan's Energy Deregulation?" Over the past 50 years, three broad analytical frameworks preoccupied both policy specialists and scholars in the field of comparative political economy. These frameworks were not only applied to the industrial democracies of the West, but also found constant use in the analysis of Japan. One framework was an "interest-based approach" where principals and agents, or bosses and underlings in plain language, took center stage.
In this analysis, individuals and groups vied to maximize material self-interest. Politicians served the public only for the sake of personal reelection. Bureaucrats and judges served politicians for the sake of career preservation and advancement. Interest-groups and their coalitions lobbied the government to promote narrow self-serving agendas, and the electorate - usually depicted as a homogeneous mass dominated by the "median voter" - selected their representatives based on the size of their pocketbooks. How Deregulation Foretold Nuclear Disaster In Japan. Posted on March 21, 2011 in Articles There will be a postmortem to determine the cause of the nuclear accident in Japan at Fukushima, and all the usual suspects will be rounded up for interrogation.
One, however, will get a nod and a wink without any serious investigation: deregulation. It’s the linchpin of the problem, but it will get nary more than a cursory examination. In the neoliberal world economy, deregulation and free markets are the Holy Grail on the altar at which we’re all forced to worship. Speaking badly about deregulation is like talking about someone’s mother; it’s simply not done. Having watched deregulation in action for 30 years, I will propose my own definition. Deregulation of Japan’s energy sector began in earnest in 2000, allowing commercial and industrial consumers using over 20kilovolts/2000kilowatts to contract with the providers of their choice.
Back in the day, when we checked the emergency backup diesels in America, a mind-blowing number flunked. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 98, No. 6 (Dec., 1990), pp. 1325-1348. Yup. Yup From 'Out of Place' by Corey Robin: Goldwater rejected racism (though not nationalism), but try as he might, when discussing freedom he could not resist the tug of feudalism. He called states' rights "the cornerstone" of liberty, "our chief bulwark against the encroachment of individual freedom" by the federal government. In theory, states protected individuals rather than groups. But who in 1960 were these individuals?
Goldwater claimed that they were anyone and everyone, that states' rights had nothing to do with Jim Crow. From Ian Smith of Rhodesia's wikipedia entry: In December 1967 Barry Goldwater, Senator from Arizona and Republican candidate for the 1964 presidential election, praised Smith in an interview with Harvey Ward in Salisbury, saying, "We need more men like Ian Smith, I think, in the world today. (That last quote is something else I don't remember seeing in Rick Perlstein's Goldwater bio. The Trouble With Independents | The New Republic. No group in American politics gets more respect than independent voters. Pundits and reporters probe what these allegedly moderate citizens think about this issue and that candidate, major party strategists seek the golden mean of messaging that will attract independents to their camp and/or alienate them from the opposing one. Presidential nominees and aides struggle to come up with phrases and settings that will soothe or excite them.
But what if millions of independents are really just a confused and clueless horde, whose interest in politics veers between the episodic and the non-existent? That is certainly the impression one gets from dipping into the finer details of a mid-April survey of 1,000 likely, registered voters conducted by Democracy Corps, the outfit run by Stan Greenberg and James Carville. The results are mildly hilarious. Nearly a century later, governance has only become more complex and consequential.
Charles Koch to Friedrich Hayek: Use Social Security! There’s right-wing hypocrisy, and then there’s this: Charles Koch, billionaire patron of free-market libertarianism, privately championed the benefits of Social Security to Friedrich Hayek, the leading laissez-faire economist of the twentieth century. Koch even sent Hayek a government pamphlet to help him take advantage of America’s federal retirement insurance and healthcare programs. We Recommend Images of the letter in which Charles Koch encourages Friedrich Hayek to make use of Social Security.
About the Author Mark Ames Mark Ames is the founding editor of the eXile and author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion: From Reagan... Yasha Levine Yasha Levine is an investigative journalist and a founding editor of The eXiled Online. Also by the Author The battle between the Cato Institute and the Koch brothers for control over the conservative think tank has further entrenched the risible notion that the group regularly defies the Republican party line. Chapter 12: The Economics of Contract. Chapter 12: The Economics of Contract I give you money, you give me an apple. No contract, no need for contract law. I hire you to build a house on property I own. We agree on a price of a hundred thousand dollars. I give you a hundred thousand dollars and, in a world without enforceable contracts, never see you again. The obvious solution is to make the payment due when the house is finished. You finish building my house and ask to be paid.
A better solution is to pay you continuously as you build the house, but that too has problems. Another solution, and a very common one, is reputation. You buy a sports jacket from a store that guarantees satisfaction—money back, no questions asked. The store knows perfectly well that you are not going to sue them; the time and effort would cost you more than the jacket is worth. Department store refunds are an easy case, since the amounts at stake are small, the issues simple, and the parties are engaged in repeat dealings. Making Sense of Duress. Is Wal-Mart Worse? (Gotham Gazette, Feb 14, 2011) Photo (cc) Dystopos It was a relatively quiet morning in front of Atlantic Center -- the usually buzzing Brooklyn shopping complex kitty-corner to the site of Atlantic Yards.
Mikey Richardson, 29, had a Target bag in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Richardson comes to Target -- the anchor store in the center -- once or twice a month for the occasional household item. Last week it was a power tool set. The 29-year-old Crown Heights resident has no problem unloading his wallet at this particular national retailer, which boasts more than 1,700 stores throughout the country. But Richardson changed his tune when it came to its competitor, the world's number one retailer: Wal-Mart. "It would hurt these small businesses, so I am going to say 'No,'" Richardson said of supporting a Big Apple Wal-Mart.
For the second time in a decade, Wal-Mart, which boasted $408.2 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year, is exploring a New York City location. It may have set its sights on Brooklyn. Comments. Hidden Taxpayer Costs | Good Jobs First. Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and Their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs Updated July 24, 2013 Since the mid-20th Century, most Americans have obtained health insurance through workplace-based coverage.
In recent years there has been a decline in such coverage caused by a rise in the number of jobs that do not provide coverage at all and growth in the number of workers who decline coverage because it is too expensive. Faced with the unavailability or unaffordability of health coverage on the job, growing numbers of lower-income workers are turning to taxpayer-funded healthcare programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This trend is putting an added burden on programs that are already under stress because of fiscal constraints caused by medical inflation and federal cutbacks. Many states are curtailing benefits and tightening eligibility requirements. Source: Robin K. Florida In March 2005 the St. The St. The St. STORE WARS: Wal-Mart Business Practices. Wal-Mart employees at grand opening celebration Wal-Mart employs more people than any other company in the United States outside of the Federal government, yet the majority of its employees with children live below the poverty line.
"Buy American" banners are prominently placed throughout its stores; however, the majority of its goods are made outside the U.S. and often in sweatshops. Critics believe that Wal-Mart opens stores to saturate the marketplace and clear out the competition, then closes the stores and leaves them sitting empty. Freedom of speech issues also come into play. Musicians are at the mercy of Wal-Mart's stringent content rules, forcing many to create "sanitized" versions of their albums specifically for the discount chain. The sentiment behind Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's promise of a "better life for all" belies questionable business practices - many that have been challenged by employees, unions, environmentalists, recording artists and human rights organizations.
<center>2/7/97 Shils Report - Impact of Mega-Retail Discount Chains on American Small Businesses</center> Last Update with New Links to The Shils Report: 10/22/99 2/7/97 Shils Report - Impact of Mega-Retail Discount Chains on American Small Businesses The Shils Report Is of Major Importance and Should Be Read by Anyone Interested in Antitrust Enforcement or Lack of Enforcement The Shils Report, published on February 7, 1997, is entitled "Measuring the Economic and Sociological Impact of the Mega-Retail Discount Chains on Small Enterprise in Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities". Edward B. Shils' 250-page (downloadable) Report is based on statistical sampling, and therefore potentially useful as evidence in an appropriate lawsuit.
The Report details the effect which the mega-chains and "Big Boxes" have had on competing small businesses, particularly because of the lower prices which the big chains are able to demand due to their size, and the government's failure to enforce the nation's antitrust laws, including the Robinson-Patman Act. Copyright © 1997 by Carl E. Gawker's New Media Model: Have Advertisers Edit Content. How's this for a business model for new media? Have people talk about products, and let the corporations who make the products pay to control the conversation. That's Gawker's new sure-fire money-making scheme, according to CJR (5/24/12), which quotes a memo from the media gossip site: "In two years, our primary offering to marketers will be our discussion platform.
" CJR explains that people mainly read Gawker for the snarky comments, so site founder Nick Denton is planning on virtually doing away with posts: Expect Gawker's blog posts to get shorter, in future, and sometimes just be a headline, at least in the first instance, so that the conversation can get going before a pretty post can be put together. And if Denton's scheme goes according to plan, when you follow a link to a Gawker website, it will often–or maybe even usually–be a link to a comment, rather than to an original post. This will help Denton pursue his dream of not having to pay anyone for content. Does the crisis portend communism? The Gaussian copula function tattoo. The dangerous Gaussian copula function. Economist's View.
A feminist critique of cisgender Liberation Collective. Consistent with common usage of the term “cisgender,” the graphic below explains that “…if you identify with the gender you were assigened [sic] at birth, you are cis.” Another Trans 101: Cisgender webpage describes cis this way: “For example, if a doctor said “it’s a boy!” When you were born, and you identify as a man, then you could be described as cisgender.” [i] Likewise, girl-born people who identify as women are also considered cisgender. WBW are cis. Framing gender as a medically determined assignment may seem like a good start to explaining gendered oppression because it purports to make a distinction between physical sex and gender. Feminism similarly understands masculinity and femininity (e.g., gender) as strictly enforced social constructs neither of which are the “normal” or inevitable result of one’s reproductive sex organs.
On closer inspection of the concept of “cisgender,” however, feminism and trans theory quickly diverge. See graphic, above. “IT’S A GIRL!” Like this: Full text of "The Counter Revolution Of Science" Feminish. The Wellington Young Feminists' Collective. The Wellington Young Feminists' Collective. The Wellington Young Feminists' Collective. The Wellington Young Feminists' Collective. The Mormon Therapist. Crosstalk Forum. Tyler Clementi's Spycam Tormentor Just Made a Big Mistake. There are a variety of problems with prosecuting this case. Off the top of my head, here are a few: i) Jurors are ripe with their own prejudice, and bias, depending on their own lives. Whatever moral character they carry with them into the jury box, the prosecution is stuck with. A jury of a normal cross-section of urban Americans, will be a tricky audience to convince; this is true of even the easiest of cases. Ii) At it's core, this was a prank, a horrible, thoughtless prank, and stupid, but nonetheless, a prank, with grave consequences.
Iii) The D.A. is overburdened with other cases, and murder cases, and other higher-end offence cases take priority. iv) I suspect the evidence is not strong. The D.A. does not appear to be ducking the case though, or looking for the easiest way out, as the obvious easy choice would be to have Ravi deported, and charged back in India.
Incredibly tough case to take to trial. When did skeptic become a dirty word? Chelsea Handler's Abortion Admission. Entertainment Tonight, Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 9:30pm (PDT) Chelsea Handler, the outspoken host of "Chelsea Lately," made a shocking admission to the New York Times in a new interview. "I had an abortion when I was 16, because that's what I should have done," said Chelsea after venting her grievances over reality shows like "16 and Pregnant" that she thinks rewards girls "for being pregnant when you're a teenager. " The admission is in line with the comedienne's openness in her memoir "Are You There Vodka?
It's Me, Chelsea" which is being made into a sitcom coming soon to NBC. In the book, Chelsea describes her struggles with weight and her complicated relationship with her father. "Chelsea Lately" airs weeknights on E!. Related on Wonderwall & MSN: Look back at Kris and Kim's whirlwind romance Get the scoop on 'Chelsea Lately' on MSN Check out these photos of celebrities out and about this week Related stories on ETonline.com: Touchdown! Season 12's 'Dancing with the Stars' Scoreboard. Today's gossip is tomorrow's news. America Is Tired of Rush Limbaugh - Gawker.
Sarah Palin's Top Aide Attacked Bristol in Private Communications - Gawker. There is Much More to Say. There is Much More to Say. The Rules of Capitalism, Part 3. "We have no idea what to do next." Economic Thinker Paul Krugmans Lonely Crusade for Liberalism -- New York Magazine. Think Tank: The Economics of Death Star Planet Destruction Print. Automatic Stabilizers in Krugman's Cross Diagram. Scott Adams wanks again! : Pharyngula. Scott Adams reads Newsweek. Uh-oh. : Pharyngula. Activity from lodurr. How to Get a Real Education, by Scott Adams. Letters: How Ayn Rand ruined my childhood - Salon.