Student-Loan Repayment Moratorium Could Get Another Extension From Biden - WSJ

A spokesperson for the Education Department said it would announce whether it plans to extend the pause later this week.

Seems like code for an extension is coming.

Borrowers will feel great about it, except that it’s an incredibly inflationary policy. $7B/month in misallocated capital.

But borrowers enjoy swimming around in the nice warm water, not noticing that they’re getting boiled.

If the pause is extended, don’t expect payments to resume until after the midterms.

First day of winter.

❄️

Biden Emerges as Progressive Government’s Mr. Bad Example - WSJ Opinion

The virus is the most visible refutation of progressive vanity this year, but by no means the only one. Those liberal geniuses who told us they could manage the economy like a well-honed machine have managed to create the highest inflation in nearly 40 years, eroding real wages and imperiling economic stability. The brilliant ideologues who run our cities have presided over a surge in violent crime that has reduced life for many residents to a real-life dystopia. Those omniscient technocrats who know how to devise and implement a humane and functioning immigration policy have left us with a border in name only and chaos and lawlessness to accompany it. The strategic geniuses who told us “America is back” produced a debacle in Afghanistan whose full ramifications for U.S. security we haven’t even begun to see.

The sad truth is that the consequences of falling for false hope are experienced by us all.

Christmas Tree, 2021

U.S. Raises Fuel-Efficiency Requirements for Cars and Light Trucks - WSJ

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday that it would require auto makers to achieve a fleetwide average of 55 miles a gallon by model year 2026, up from a standard of 43 mpg set during the Trump administration

More government-imposed market distortions to be soon followed by producer gimmicks.

In total they would cut nationwide emissions by nearly 2%, based on EPA estimates.

And therein lies the rub. Upending an entire industry to make a statistically meaningless impact, especially when compared to the increasing emissions outputs of Russia, China, and India.

Why are we ruining our lives with no appreciable benefit?

“We are setting robust and rigorous standards that will aggressively reduce the pollution that is harming people and our planet—and save families money at the same time,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

False logic. These technology changes are going to increase the cost of new (and later used) cars by a factor of $1,000s while “saving” a family on their annual fuel bills by a factor of $100s.

“Achieving the goals of this final rule will undoubtedly require enactment of supportive governmental policies—including consumer incentives, substantial infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for U.S. manufacturing and supply-chain development,” he said.

That was fast. The automotive industry is already claiming they can’t meet these goals without more taxpayer subsidies.

PirateShip is excellent.

📦

I don’t know if it’s very funny or very sad that my 8yo came up with a clever COVID joke.

Vast Household Wealth Could Be a Factor Behind U.S. Labor Shortage - WSJ

Families that win at least $30,000 in the lottery tend to earn less in the next five years, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper released in July by four University of Chicago scholars. The more a person wins, the bigger the effect that the award has on earnings and employment, the paper found. Upper-income winners are more likely to reduce their hours, while lower-income winners are more likely to drop out of the labor market entirely, the paper found.

Fascinating.