Back in September, I attended a round table where the guest was a major economic advisor to Donald Trump and the participants were economists and other public policy people. I can’t be more specific because of the Chatham House Rule. Under that rule, I’m free to report what I said and people’s reactions as long as I don’t name them.
In the Q&A, I said that one deregulatory move I thought President Trump should propose is to get rid of the federal restrictions on toilets. Those restrictions require low flush toilets and sometimes you need to flush a few times. I said that besides being an increase in freedom, such a measure would be politically popular. I quoted Dave Barry’s comment from a few years ago that whatever presidential candidate proposed such a measure would win the election in a landslide. It’s an exaggeration of course. And, by the way, President Trump seems to be doing a lot to reduce his electoral margin by allowing his FDA to go after vaping and by signing a bill that bans cigarette smoking for people under age 21.
But back to my proposal. I bet you can guess what people’s reaction was. They laughed. No one seemed to take it seriously. But there’s one person who has taken it seriously. Even better, he seems to want to get rid of those governors that have substantially reduced the pressure in showers, making them much less fun than they used to be.
READER COMMENTS
Kurt Schuler
Jan 2 2020 at 11:19pm
If it succeeds, you can be flushed with pride.
David Henderson
Jan 3 2020 at 11:05am
🙂
Kevin Erdmann
Jan 3 2020 at 1:17am
In some ways, these regulatory issues have the same effect as important cultural issues. I think it’s a clue about how political institutions can cause economies to contract, even though you would think that once a level of technology is achieved, economic production would be maintained at the new higher level.
It’s related to Diedre McCloskey’s work about the importance of culture and rhetoric in economic growth. For many centuries, forms of cooperation that might seem obvious to a modern capitalist went underutilized because of cultural norms about associations, property rights, etc. Technology went underutilized.
When I try to use the newfangled gas can spouts, I think, “We have lost spout technology. For centuries, people have understood how to pour liquid effectively out of a can, but now we can’t.” Just as a potential trader or inventor centuries ago may have had the tools and the skill to create value, but they were prevented by cultural norms from doing so, I have the tools and the skill to easily pour gasoline out of a can, but I am prevented by political rules from doing so. The same goes for flushing a toilet, or building a house in San Francisco.
In these cases where the regulations are noticeably obtrusive, one can see the systematic loss in the ability to maintain basic economic and technological stability.
P Burgos
Jan 3 2020 at 2:35am
Gas cans have changed? Like the kind you would use to fill up a gas powered lawn mower?
David Henderson
Jan 3 2020 at 11:05am
They’ve absolutely changed for the worse.
I would give you a link but they’re easy to find.
Mark Bahner
Jan 8 2020 at 3:53pm
Yes, as Kevin Erdmann and David Henderson attest, gasoline spouts like you pour gasoline into a lawnmower have changed for the far, far worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uklKn0mVek
Not only did I find it almost impossible to simply fill an emergency generator tank, I ended up with a fair amount of gasoline that spilled, which would not have happened with the old nozzles. Terrible!
Jon Murphy
Jan 3 2020 at 12:08pm
Tangentially related is this comic strip.
In my experience, low flow toilets are very broadly condemned. At GMU, we’ve had a number of sanitary issues because the toilets simply cannot handle the necessary workload.
David Henderson
Jan 4 2020 at 10:55am
Re comic strip, yuck. I’m glad I had my breakfast before reading it.
nobody.really
Jan 3 2020 at 10:31pm
Oh, that’s just what we need: Persuade Trump that he has the power to get rid of governors.
…that have substantially reduced the pressure in showers, making them much less fun than they used to be.
Rebes
Jan 5 2020 at 3:09am
I am for the separation of state and bathroom.
Thaomas
Jan 6 2020 at 10:40am
Should the flow rates/amounts of toilets be regulated? Is there some reason to think that the toilet flushing decision process is distorted in some way that leads to consumers preferring higher flow toilets than would occur if the distortion were not there? Sounds like a case of needing to apply cost benefit analysis to a regulation.
Dan
Jan 6 2020 at 1:45pm
Or let consumers apply the regulation by purchasing the toilets that have the flow rates that they prefer. If there is a distortion, it’s through low water prices.
David Seltzer
Jan 7 2020 at 1:00pm
Bears in the woods are exempt from this nonsense.
Comments are closed.