[EL] Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

Wed Aug 26 09:58:54 PDT 2015

I think you are describing the US energy market for the last 100 years or so. 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Smith, Brad
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 9:42 AM
To: 'Chambers, Hank'; Sean Parnell; 'Rick Hasen'; 'Jonathan Adler'; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

No, no it really wouldn’t, Hank. Indeed, a “competitive energy market” in which the government provides huge subsidies and quotas to benefit certain entities is, by definition, not a “competitive energy market.”

Bradley A. Smith

Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault 

  Professor of Law

Capital University Law School

303 East Broad Street

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 236-6317

bsmith at law.capital.edu

http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Chambers, Hank
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 12:27 PM
To: Sean Parnell; 'Rick Hasen'; 'Jonathan Adler'; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

I suspect President Obama meant that the Koch brothers were seeking to maintain their own economic rents by lobbying to oppose various industries that would help bring a fuller and more competitive energy market.  That seems to fit comfortably within how the term is currently used, and even with how Gordon Tullock used it.  

-Hank  

Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Professor of Law

University of Richmond School of Law

28 Westhampton Way

Richmond, Va. 23173

(804) 289-8199

hchamber at richmond.edu

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Sean Parnell
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 11:25 AM
To: 'Rick Hasen'; 'Jonathan Adler'; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

I’d like to see some evidence of that then, because his comments in Vegas point in the other direction (although Professor Adler does provide a reasonable explanation of what happened as well).

Sean Parnell

President, Impact Policy Management, LLC

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

Alexandria, Virginia

From: Rick Hasen [mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 11:21 AM
To: Jonathan Adler; Sean Parnell; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

Of course the president knows what rent seeking is. 

On 8/26/15 8:15 AM, Jonathan Adler wrote:

There is an alternative explanation: The President is fully aware of what “rent-seeking” means, and just chose to use the term improperly or dishonestly.  Is that what Rick is suggesting?  I think the suggestion that Obama (or his speechwriter) does not fully understand the meaning of the term (and what it means to seek economic rents) is the more charitable of the two, but YMMV.

------ 
Jonathan H. Adler 
Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law 
Director, Center for Business Law & Regulation 
Case Western Reserve University School of Law 
11075 East Boulevard 
Cleveland, OH 44106 
ph) 216-368-2535 
fax) 216-368-2086 
cell) 202-255-3012 
 <mailto:jha5 at case.edu> jha5 at case.edu 
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/author=183995

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/author/adlerj/

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Sean Parnell
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 10:56 AM
To: 'Rick Hasen'; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

Rick, based on his comments in Vegas, I can assure you that Obama has no clue what “rent seeking” is. There are cases to be made (mostly bad cases IMHO, but cases nonetheless) for giving subsidies, guaranteed market share, protection from foreign competition, and other goodies to the renewable energy industry. But there’s no case at all, at least from an economic perspective, for arguing that opposing those policies amounts to rent seeking. None. 

Sean Parnell

President, Impact Policy Management, LLC

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

Alexandria, Virginia

Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> campaign finance,  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59> campaigns

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75594> Charles Koch “Flabbergasted” by Obama Criticism, Wants to Educate Him About “Rent Seeking”

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75594> August 25, 2015 7:58 pm by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> Rick Hasen

 <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/charles-koch-blasts-obama-121746.html> Mike Allen:

Charles Koch hit back at criticism of “the Koch brothers” during President Barack Obama’s energy speech in Las Vegas earlier this week, saying he was “flabbergasted” by the attack and charging that Obama made the dig as a favor to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who appeared with him.

“It’s beneath the president, the dignity of the president, to be doing that,” Koch said during a phone interview Tuesday…

That’s not the American way. That’s not progress. That’s not innovation. That’s rent seeking, and trying to protect old ways of doing business and standing in the way of the future.”

Obama continued: “I mean, think about this. Ordinarily, these are groups that tout themselves as champions of the free market. If you start talking to them about providing health care for folks who don’t have health insurance, they’re going crazy: ‘This is socialism, this is going to destroy America.’ But in this situation, they’re trying to undermine competition in the marketplace, and choke off consumer choice, and threaten an industry that’s churning out new jobs at a fast pace.”

Koch shot back: “I don’t know whether he knows what that phrase means, but ‘rent seeking,’ of course, is, in economic terms, is getting the government to rig the system in your favor. And that’s exactly what these so-called ‘renewable energy’ proponents are doing.”

I’m guessing that Obama, who taught at the University of Chicago, is familiar with the term “rent-seeking.”

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-- 
Rick Hasen
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