Socialists Futilely Chasing the Market: Fluorescent Bulbs

There's talk among the Gore-a-phytes of banning incandescent bulbs. Funny thing, the moves in Australia and Europe to do this are already about a decade late.

The free market, all on its very own -- people reacting purely to price pressures, the differences in costs of the bulbs and the electricity to power them -- is leading the switchover. We don't actually need any governmental action; we're already producing over 50% of the compact flourescents that will be needed, perhaps an even higher portion...Me, cynic that I am, would simply put it down to the fact that politicians have to be seen to be doing something to justify their existence, even if the problem already is, largely, solved without their beneficience, or, indeed, their salaries or existence...Is This Really A Bright Idea?, Tim Worstall, TCS Daily, 3/30/2007

This is not surprising. Government agencies that try to set prices usually take ten to twenty times longer to figure out a good price point than private business. The highlighted sentence in Worstall's article says it all.

Luther