You've known for a long time that what GE wants, GE gets--usually by writing regulations that Congress passes for it. See, e.g., the company's self-written "zero tax" IRS regs.
And yes, with Fred "Lightbulb" Upton--an (R) assclown from Michigan--GE and a few co-conspirators managed to increase your cost of living while bringing more profit to light! Yes, GWBush signed the bill. He, too, was an assclown in a lot of ways.
...The 2007 Energy Bill,
a stew of regulations and subsidies, set mandatory efficiency standards
for most light bulbs. Any bulbs that couldn't produce a given
brightness at the specified energy input would be illegal. That meant
the 25-cent bulbs most Americans used in nearly every socket of their
home would be outlawed.
People often assume green regulations like this represent the triumph
of environmental activists trying to save the plant. That’s rarely the
case, and it wasn't here. Light bulb manufacturers whole-heartedly
supported the efficiency standards. General Electric, Sylvania and
Philips — the three companies that dominated the bulb industry — all
backed the 2007 rule, while opposing proposals to explicitly outlaw
incandescent technology (thus leaving the door open for high-efficiency
incandescents)....
One could use the term "corrupt" to describe thievery-by-legislation. But "extortion" is more accurate.
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4 comments:
I see with the new year, you still lack a clue on basic economics.
Extortion? Thievery? Hardly.
Good old fashioned capitalism at work. Companies have every liberty to ensure that legislation is favorable for their business practices.
At some point Sylvania will invent a bulb even dimwits can use to find their way out of the darkness.
Your hero Keynes is shown to be a fraud. Even Krugman is beginning to understand 2+2 in his dotage.
Got a new one, Struppster?
Basic Econ: cheaper bulbs, same lifetime, no poison in the home, better economy.
Maybe that's beneath your level of understanding, eh?
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