Half-Life of Policy Rationales : How New Technology Affects Old Policy Issues

by Foldvary, Fred E.

• ISBN13: 9780814747766
• ISBN10: 0814747760
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-02-01
• Publisher: New York University Press

Summary

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.Whether you are interested in the role of government and markets, or the role of technology in society, or in specific policy areas, Half-Life makes for stimulating reading. Foldvary and Klein should be commended for bringing together many disparate policy areas under one roof, and assessing the role of technology in promoting choice, freedom, and prosperity.--Knowledge, Technology, & PolicyThe Half-Life of Policy Rationales is one clever book. Nothing in recent years on economics of new technology comes close. --The Independent ReviewThis makes for provocative and profitable reading. -- Markets & MoralityA useful volume for those interested in the rationales for regulations and other government policies. -- Choice The Half-Life of Policy Rationales argues that the appropriateness of policy depends on the state of technology, and that the justifications for many public policies are dissolving as technology advances. As new detection and metering technologies are being developed for highways, parking, and auto emissions, and information becomes more accessible and user-friendly, this volume argues that quality and safety are better handled by the private sector. As for public utilities, new means of producing and delivering electricity, water, postal, and telephone services dissolve the old natural-monopolies rationales of the government. This volume includes essays on marine resources, lighthouses, highways, parking, auto emissions, consumer product safety, money and banking, medical licensing, electricity, water delivery, postal service, community governance, and endangered species. The editors have mobilized the hands-on knowledge of field experts to develop theories about technology and public policy. The Half-Life of Policy Rationales will be of interest to readers in public policy, technology, property rights, and economics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How New Technology Affects Old Policy Issues	1	(18)
Fred E. Foldvary
Daniel B. Klein
PART I Metering, Excluding, and Charging	19	(88)
Technology, Marine Conservation, and Fisheries Management	21	(17)
Michael De Alessi
The Lighthouse as a Private-Sector Collective Good	38	(9)
Fred E. Foldvary
Motorway Financing and Provision: Technology Favors a New Approach	47	(13)
Peter Samuel
Buying Time at the Curb	60	(26)
Donald C. Shoup
Fencing the Airshed: Using Remote Sensing to Police Auto Emissions	86	(21)
Daniel B. Klein
PART II Quality Assurance and Consumer Protection	107	(52)
Technology and the Case for Free Banking	109	(16)
David Friedman
Kerry Macintosh
Consumer Protection Regulation and Information on the Internet	125	(19)
John C. Moorhouse
Medical Licensing: Existing Public Policy and Technological Change	144	(15)
Shirley V. Svorny
PART III Natural Monopoly?	159	(66)
Technology and Electricity: Overcoming the Umbilical Mentality	161	(23)
Alvin Lowi Jr.
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.
Avoiding the Grid: Technology and the Decentralization of Water	184	(24)
Alvin Lowi Jr.
Technological Change and the Case for Government Intervention in Postal Services	208	(17)
Rick Geddes
PART IV Other Areas of Policy	225	(32)
The Entrepreneurial Community in Light of Advancing Business Practices and Technologies	227	(16)
Spencer Heath MacCallum
Technology and the Protection of Endangered Species	243	(14)
Richard L. Stroup
Jane S. Shaw
About the Contributors	257	(6)
Index	263