Why Cows Take The Plane
No, not because they are someone's emotional support Holstein. And yes, this seriously happens. Cows fly from Hawaii to the West Coast of the US on planes.
Government, the great creator of crony capitalist stupid, built this.
Colin Grabow writes at Cato about the Jones Act:
Passed in 1920, this outdated law restricts the transportation of goods between U.S. ports to vessels that are U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built, and mostly U.S.-owned and crewed. But less than one percent of the world's 51,000 ships meet these requirements, placing them off limits for domestic transport. That means a dramatic reduction in choice and competition.Compounding matters, the U.S.-built ships required by the Jones Act can cost of up five times as much as those constructed abroad. U.S.-flagged ships--another Jones Act requirement--have operating costs that are triple those of vessels from other countries. This combination of reduced competition as well as high construction and operating costs has made for eye‐popping shipping rates. Shipping a container from the East Coast to Puerto Rico, for example, can be double the price of sending it to a nearby foreign port not subject to the Jones Act.
These shipping costs are ultimately reflected in higher prices for the goods Americans buy.
Americans have responded to the high cost of Jones Act ships by seeking almost any other method for transporting their goods across the country. Despite the United States possessing thousands of miles of coastline and areas dependent on sea transport such as Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, ships carry a mere 2 percent of the country's freight. That means more pressure on our roads and rail. It means degraded highways and more time sitting in traffic. It means more pollution.
Incredibly, Jones Act ships are so expensive that it even means ranchers in Hawaii send cattle to the West Coast on airplanes.
There's more at the Cato link. In short:
The law has imposed steep costs on our economy, polluted our environment, harmed our national security, and contributed to the downfall of the very sector it was meant to help.
People need to be made aware that laws passed have downstream unintended consequences (or sometimes intended ones, when they're protecting current industry at the expense of those who'd like to join it and at the expense of consumers).
Learned a new term today, Chesterton's Fence:
Chesterton's fence is the principle that reforms should not be made until the reasoning behind the existing state of affairs is understood. The quotation is from G. K. Chesterton's 1929 book The Thing, in the chapter entitled "The Drift from Domesticity":In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."
This, rather obviously, should apply before laws are created.
Golly, I remember talking about Chesterton's Fence a lot during the gay marriage debate, but no one wanted to hear it....
Crid at June 6, 2020 10:32 PM
Maybe the problem isn’t the Jones act per se, but the U.S. taxation schemes, and environmental regulations that make it impossible to maintain U.S. flagged carriers, and build ships in the U.S?
Deliberately offshoring ship building and shipping to remove these externalities and jobs from the US. has been a Democratic Party goal for a long time now.
There are similar regulations in effect that keep many things from being shipped by rail now, which is why the long haul trucking industry is so huge. The railroads are unionized.
Isab at June 7, 2020 4:02 AM
I'd say there are issues with both Isab. In the long run it is tax and environmental regulation issues. But there are lots of short term issues where building local isn't a good option. One example is when oil spills happen. US oil production is clean enough it isn't economical to keep a fleet of US built and flagged skimmer ships. But then you have a major spill like Deep Water Horizon. Mexico spills a fair amount of oil and maintains a significant fleet of oil skimmers to clean up after themselves. But due to the Jones Act we couldn't use those ships to help with one of our rare spills.
Back on the Hawaii cows things, for most of the US coast I can see where making a midway stop at a foreign port isn't an option but Hawaii is far enough away it seems unlikely that a short stop to unload and reload in Mexico wouldn't be cheaper than air travel.
Ben at June 7, 2020 7:21 AM
The railroads are unionized? Have you not heard of the Teamsters?
Railroads are freight-loaded and domain-limited. You can't just put another track in - anywhere.
So far as the Jones Act is concerned, you should look at shipping losses. Left to themselves, a shipping company won't pay a penny that doesn't improve the bottom line. They don't make domestic news all that much because nobody cares if anything besides oil or people goes swimming.
So - another case where the answer is to lower standards...
Radwaste at June 7, 2020 7:53 AM
The problem with the Chesterton Fence is not that the modern reformer will walk up and say "I don't see the use of this." It's that the modern reformer will walk up and say, "I see the use of this and that use is racist/sexist/homophic."
So is the trucking industry, heavily unionized, and heavily regulated. UPS has higher operating costs than Federal Express because UPS is regulated as a trucking company while FedEx is regulated as a cargo airline.
UPS tried to petition the government to regulate it as a cargo airline, the same as its main competitor, but the teamsters union objected. So, UPS changed its tune and is now asking that FedEx be regulated as a trucking company, equalizing the regulatory environment in which both operate and, coincidentally, giving the teamsters a legally-mandated "in" to FedEx.
Conan the Grammarian at June 7, 2020 8:13 AM
The Jones Act also interfered with recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria. Tho in retrospect, that simply meant that the supplies horded by local government officials simply arrived later and were still good longer than if they'd delivered promptly.
I R A Darth Aggie at June 7, 2020 8:36 AM
UPS changed its tune and is now asking that FedEx be regulated as a trucking company, equalizing the regulatory environment in which both operate and, coincidentally, giving the teamsters a legally-mandated "in" to FedEx.
And if that comes to pass, UPS will have labor harmony for a time. Also known as a "win-win".
I R A Darth Aggie at June 7, 2020 8:38 AM
I thought it as because they found steerage class insulting. BLM - Bovine Lives Matter
By the head line I thought this was going to be rant on overweight people on airlines.
The Former Banker at June 7, 2020 2:23 PM
In my opinion the trucking industry has not been captured by the unions, and monopolized the way the Railroads were.
See all those Walmart trucks and other independent firms like England trucking? Right to work and locating your truck headquarters in one of those states, freed large numbers of trucking companies from the grasp of the teamsters, and other union organizations.
It is going to be interesting to see how much the ship building and shipping industry deregulates after this corona virus panic.
There has been a catastrophe of sorts with foreign flagged cruise ships, hanging out in the Bahamas for months with no ports allowing them to dock.
I wonder how long before the cruise industry recovers, or if it even will?
Isab at June 8, 2020 6:23 AM
Hmm. Cows on planes.
Only until California builds high-speed rail to Hawaii.
I'm sure they're voted for it - then, someone here will argue that Southwest flies where they want to go.
Radwaste at June 8, 2020 7:01 AM
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