Cato Daily Dispatch for November 29, 2005
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FCC May Back New à La Carte PricingReport Finds China Cannot Be Branded As Currency Manipulator
Low Voter Turnout Returns Mugabe's Backers to Senate
FCC May Back New à La Carte Pricing
According to Reuters: "The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected to suggest that cable companies could best serve their customers by allowing them to subscribe to individual channels instead of packages of several stations the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday."
"The newspaper said that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is expected to announce on Tuesday that the commission will soon revise the conclusion it reached in the report it issued last year on 'a la carte' pricing in the cable industry."
In "GAO's Cable Report Smacks Down à La Carte Regulation," Adam Thierer, the Cato Institute's former director of information policy studies, writes: "In reality, however, mandatory à la carte regulation would have potentially devastating implications for the cable industry and consumers alike. Consider first the issue of the cost of time for both industry and consumers. Presumably, an à la carte mandate would require that cable operators provide each household a channel checklist (either on paper, online, or over the phone) that would need to be filled out. How long will this take? In a 500-channel universe, how many hours will consumers need to spend on their computers, or on the phone with cable representatives? Second, consider the technology upgrades that would be necessary to make à la carte a reality. An 'addressable converter box' would need to be installed in each home to ensure that channel selections could be properly scrambled if they were not selected by the consumer. So say goodbye to 'cable ready' TV sets; everyone will need a set top box under an à la carte system, and that means higher costs for many households since most currently do not have such boxes."
Report Finds China Cannot Be Branded As Currency Manipulator
"Advocates of a get-tough economic policy with China say they will lobby Congress to overrule the Bush administration's failure to brand China as a currency manipulator and impose economic sanctions as a way to deal with America's soaring trade deficit," the Associated Press reports.
In "Protectionism No Fix for China's Currency," Daniel T. Griswold, director of Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies, writes: "China's current currency policy is really the opposite of 'manipulation.' For more than a decade, through dramatically changing economic and political circumstances, the Chinese central bank has maintained its currency at a fixed 8.28 yuan to one U.S. dollar. In the late 1990s, as other Asian currencies were crashing through the floor during the financial crisis, China held its currency steady. Its exchange-rate policy was praised back then for maintaining stability in a region in economic turmoil, even though it undoubtedly compromised China's competitiveness in the short run compared to its Asian neighbors.
"China should and probably will allow its currency to readjust in the not-too-distant future, but heavy-handed threats from Congress and the White House are based on populist nonsense that, if enacted into law, would inflict real damage on American families."
Low Voter Turnout Returns Mugabe's Backers to Senate
"Only one in five eligible voters cast a ballot in Saturday's elections in Zimbabwe, a record low turnout that opposition leaders and political analysts called a sign that the nation has lost faith in the ballot box as a means to battle the harsh rule of President Robert Mugabe," the Washington Post reports.
"[T]he vote revealed a growing mix of indifference and hostility to elections among both supporters and opponents of Mugabe's government, after six years of elections for various offices and constitutional changes that were marred by violence and charges of rigging."
In "Time for Africa to Stand up to Mugabe," Marian L. Tupy, assistant director of the Project on Global Economic Liberty at the Cato Institute, writes: "Over the past five years, Robert Mugabe's despotic regime strengthened its hold over the country and emaciated the opposition. Seeing the deterioration in Zimbabwe, the Bush administration took the principled stand and labeled Zimbabwe as one of the world's 'outposts of tyranny.' The question is: Can African leaders do the same?
"Where West Africa has shown the way, Southern Africa would be wise to follow. Member states of SADC need to understand that their tacit condoning of Mugabe's dictatorship reflects badly on them. It makes a parody out of Thabo Mbeki's grand design for Africa -- the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). NEPAD promises to improve Africa's record on human rights and accountability in exchange for more aid and investment. Time has come for African leaders to make good on their promises."
Kristen Kestner, editor, kkestner@cato.org
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