May 06, 2004

Patterico - more NY Times lies. "Once again, the [leftist] media is presenting a fabricated history of the California energy crisis. A New York Times editorial praising Arnold Schwarzenegger revives the myth of "deregulation" in California:
Last week, in an announcement barely noticed outside the state, the governor offered a comprehensive energy plan that dealt the final blow to the unfettered deregulation that helped cause a series of blackouts in 2000, bankrupted a major utility and marked the beginning of the end for Mr. Davis.
What was "unfettered" about a system of deregulation that maintained price controls on the prices that utilities could charge consumers? The idea that "deregulation" caused blackouts in California is a falsehood, perpetuated by [leftists] who don't understand economics -- or do, but choose to engage in dishonest rhetoric nevertheless. What caused the problem, for the most part, was not "unfettered deregulation," but rather half-assed deregulation -- a "deregulation" that lifted controls on the prices that suppliers charged utilities, but which fixed the prices charged to consumers .. And, of course, you had the spectacle of politicians spending all sorts of money on advertising begging people to conserve -- because they refused to do the one thing that could actually cause conservation: lifting the caps on prices charged to consumers. And when this soft-headed strategy failed -- a result which was pre-ordained -- what do we do? Blame "deregulation." "Unfettered deregulation," no less. The editors at the New York Times certainly know that true deregulation never had a chance in California. Yet they use the word "unfettered" to describe a "deregulation" that deregulated only one end of the power equation. This characterization is dishonest. But, it does help the editors fight their war on deregulation in general. And we know what happens when facts get in the way of a pet position of editors at a major newspaper: facts be damned .. ". MORE Patterico's Pontifications: More Media Lies About Energy. Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack