Archive for John Semmens
Do Seat Belt Laws Work?
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Laissez Faire Institute in Chandler, Arizona. Many states that have passed mandatory seat belt-use laws have required that . evidence of the law’s effectiveness be produced for the law to escape automatic expiration. A recently published report—“Arizona Hospital Costs for Seat Belt Use vs. Non-Use 1989, 1990,1991"—from the [...]
1Jul1992 | John Semmens | 2 comments | ContinuedSpending for Spendings Sake
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Laissez Faire Institute in Tempe, Arizona. Few of us are in a position to act as if price were no object. We weigh prices against values, so as to avoid wasting money. It would seem that this would be a useful way to control public spending. Unfortunately, government’s [...]
1Nov1991 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedBook Review: The Myth Of Scientific Public Policy by Robert Formaini
Transaction Publishers, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 • 1990 • 129 pages • $24.95 cloth; $14.95 paper The thesis of this book—that an objective, scientifically determined public policy is impossible—stands in stark contrast to the proliferation of public planning agencies that has occurred over the last generation. The goal of a scientific public policy [...]
1Aug1991 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedGovernment Is Strangling Transit
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Laissez Faire Institute in Tempe, Arizona. Publicly owned and operated transit has been a colossal failure. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been frittered away with little or nothing to show for it. In 1964, the year the Urban Mass Transportation Administration was created by Congress, eight billion trips [...]
1Jul1991 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedExporting Taxes Threatens State Economies
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Laissez Faire Institute in Tempe, Arizona. The most popular tax is one paid by someone else. Thus state legislators, in their quest to raise spending without angering local taxpayers, are devising more and more schemes to “export” taxes to out-of-state residents. These include higher taxes on goods and [...]
1Jan1991 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedMandated Airline Safety Seats Wont Increase Travel Safety
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Laissez Faire Institute in Tempe, Arizona. Last year three unrestrained children were killed in two separate airline crashes. Speculating that these children might have survived had they been belted into child safety seats, the National Transportation Safety Board has proposed that the federal government require such seats for [...]
1Sep1990 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedBook Review: Searching For Safety by Aaron Wildavsky
Transaction Books, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903 * 1988 * 253 pages • $32.95 cloth; $16.95 paperback What is safe? While the purveyors of government safety regulations think they know, the odds are they are wrong. Since all action is designed to deal with the future, and the future is unknown, all action [...]
1Mar1989 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedPublic Policy Debate: The Rigged Game
John Semmens is an economist with the Laissez Faire Institute, a free-market research organization headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, By any measure, the federal government is growing at an alarming rate—the tax burden continues to soar, spending is out of control, and the fiscal 1988 omnibus appropriations bill included an incredible array of special-interest boondoggles. But [...]
1Oct1988 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedSchool Censorship: Compulsion Creates Conflict
John Semmens is an economist for the Laissez Faire Institute, a free-market research organization in Tempe, Arizona. “School Censorship Upheld” read the headline in my city’s daily newspaper. The January 13th ruling by the Supreme Court that school officials have the right to control the content of the student newspaper is stirring controversy. Unfortunately, little [...]
1Aug1988 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Crash of 1987: An Excuse for Government Intervention?
John Semmens is an economist with the Laissez Faire Institute, a free-market research organization headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. On October 19, 1987, the U.S. stock market suffered its largest single-day loss in history. The 508-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was five times greater than the worst previous drop. In percentage terms, the [...]
1Jun1988 | John Semmens | 2 comments | ContinuedGovernment Regulation of Air Safety May Be Hazardous to Your Health
John Semmens is an economist with the Laissez Faire Institute, a free-market research organization headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, One would guess from media accounts that it is a proven fact that the skies are less safe due to the 1978 airline deregulation. Whether it be stories of actual crashes or near-collisions, hardly any coverage ends [...]
1Apr1988 | John Semmens | 6 comments | ContinuedThe Unemployment Act of 1946
John Semmens is an economist and Dianne Kresich is a research associate for the Laissez Faire Institute, a free-market research organization headquartered at J202 West Malibu Drive, Tempe, AZ 85282. Government in America has been on a spending binge for over 40 years. Much of this spending has been for the express purpose of stimulating [...]
1Oct1987 | and John Semmens | 1 comment | ContinuedLaissez Faire as a Development Policy
The majority of the people in the world live in poverty. Fatalistic philosophy and pessimistic disposition induce many to accept this situation as inevitable. Others, observing the prosperity of the minority, are inspired to anger and envy. Fortunately, the prosperity of the minority also serves as evidence that something other than poverty is possible for [...]
1May1987 | John Semmens | 5 comments | ContinuedAir Transportation: More Government = Less Safety
Mr, Semmens is an economist for the Arizona Department of Transportation, The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Departmental policy. Mr. Wolfe is co-author of Aviation Industry Regulation, a recently published text in the field of air transportation. How the profit motive promotes safety. More [...]
1Aug1986 | and Harry P. Wolfe | 0 comments | ContinuedHighways: Public Problems, Private Solutions
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Arizona Department of Transportation. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Departmental policy. Early in 1984 an article in The Wall Street Journal was headlined: “In-terstate-Highway Building Projects Are Threatened by Political Stalemate.” The gist of the story was that House [...]
1Mar1985 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedMake-Work Won’t Work
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Arizona Department of Transportation. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Departmental policy. More and more the fate of public policy has been determined by the stampeding sacred cows. The mere mention of sacrosanct beneficiaries like the “poor,” or “elderly,” or [...]
1Sep1983 | John Semmens | 0 comments | ContinuedTax Expenditures
Mr. Semmens is an economist for the Arizona Department of Transportation. Stifling, oppressive, and meddlesome—these are the words which come readily to mind when one is forced to characterize the role modern government plays in the U.S. economy. Bureaucrats, big spenders, and neoliberals consider this a bad rap. The government can play a creative role [...]
1Jul1982 | John Semmens | 0 comments | Continued-
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