Taxing Puerto Rico to Save US Shippers

In theory, capitalism is all about healthy competition, which makes producers deliver quality goods and services at lower prices.
Competition helps everyone, even producers. After all, if your competitors keep knocking you down, that means the market is suggesting you try something else.
While most business leaders give lip service to the inherent fairness of free markets, in practice many try to avoid competition. Brilliant people devote entire careers to building innovative ‘moats’ around themselves. The pharmaceutical industry, to name just one, is highly adept at it.
That’s all fine – until those businesses enlist the government to help them. Government exists to promote the common interest, not any particular company or industry.
All that comes to mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Among other things, the storm exposed a century-old law that needs us to take a good, hard look at it.
Bringing Home the Nautical Bacon
Wesley Jones was a US senator from the state of Washington from 1909 until his death in 1932, a few days after losing his reelection bid.

This post was published at Mauldin Economics on OCTOBER 3, 2017.