Map of the Government War on Lemonade Stands
MP: What's next, a "lemonade czar"?
HT: Buddy Pacifico
CARPE DIEM
Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
Saturday, August 06, 2011
MP: What's next, a "lemonade czar"?
HT: Buddy Pacifico
About Me
- Name: Mark J. Perry
- Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Dr. Mark J. Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan. Perry holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason University near Washington, D.C. In addition, he holds an MBA degree in finance from the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. In addition to a faculty appointment at the University of Michigan-Flint, Perry is also a visiting scholar at The American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
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13 Comments:
"What's next, a "lemonade czar"?"
Well, you may scoff, but it should be obvious that due to the hodge-podge of regulations, and uneven enforcement of those that do exist, this serious threat to public health and safety can only be properly addressed at a national level. [/sarc]
I sent the lemonade map to friends with the following note.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE FROM DWIGHT:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR LOCAL LEMONADE STAND
REGULATORYAGENCY BEFORE ALLOWING YOUR KIDS TO SELL LEMONADE. IT IS YOUR DUTY
TO PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN FROM BEING TICKETED FOR
UNLICENSED LEMONADE STANDS. THEY MIGHT NOT GET INTO THE BEST KINDERGARTENS
IF THEY HAVE A RECORD OF REGULATORY NONFEASANCE OR, EVEN WORSE, REGULATORY
MALFEASANCE!
AND WHAT ABOUT CAR WASHING TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE LOCAL SCHOOL GLEE CLUB?
SOME OF THOSE KIDS MAY BE OLD ENOUGH TO BE TRIED AS ADULTS!
AND HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE REGULATORY WRATH THAT MAY ARISE AROUND GARAGE
SALES!!
LET'S ALL WORK TO KEEP AMERICA TIGHTLY CONTROLLED. SOME AUTHORITY SHOULD
GIVE OR WITHHOLD PERMISSION FOR EVERY ACTIVITY. OTHERWISE WHO KNOWS WHAT
SOME PEOPLE WOULD DO. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND PRETTY SOON AN OFFICIAL AND
AUTHORIZED PERSON AT THE DPS OR LAND USE PLANNING DEPARTMENT WILL ALSO KNOW, SO WATCH YOUR STEP.
Dwight Oglesby
Dripping Springs, TX
(I am sure you've been there lots of times.)
The issue raised is interesting--and reminds me how the most repressive governments are not at the federal level, but at the state and local level.
If you want to drive a jitney in your town, is it the feds who will stop you? What about opening a speakeasy in your garage? How about if you run a push-cart food stand? Try your hand at hooking? Sell hot dogs from your front yard? Selling recreational drugs?
Who will downzone your property inilaterally? Who will upzone your property to get higher property taxes (in Texas, the assessor)? Who will require you to have have state permission to be a barber, or electrician,. or plumber or doctor? A local government can shut down your restaurant, liquor store or strip club.
Who stopped you from voting if you are black, or marrying your neighbor if he or she is of a different color?
The record of state and local governments is miserable P.U.
It is laughable to hear "state rights" lauded in some circles. I guess what they mean is "Control of state and local authority by businesses who do not want any more competition."
We need a federal czar--for commercial freedoms, and not just political freedoms.
Hmmm, seems to me that people are failing to understand that these local governments pulling this crap is really the fault of the voters...
The people are getting the government they deserve...
Juandos-
The people are brainwashed into believing they need an enlarged government protecting them--from each other, from competition, from foreign enemies, from everything.
We had our health department stop by and harass my son's lemonade "business" last summer. Inspector stated my son needed a $150 inspection fee and a $50 ice-scooping inspection fee. And, he said my son would have to have a food-handler's permit, which requires a $10 fee paid by credit card and an online test.
No kidding.
I told the inspector in no uncertain terms that we were NOT going to pay ANYTHING and that he should just go ahead and cite my son (and me) and we'd be happy to litigate the entire thing and let the local media follow the story.
The inspector backed-down and walked away after giving my son a warning about making sure his hands were washed.
To be honest, I'm still sad that he didn't cite us. That's one fight I would have loved to have fought.
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The Nanny State... protecting us from inadequately sugared lemonade for 20 years... and counting.
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Cabo, the world needs more peeps like you (and me).
"Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite."
All too many people willing to "go along" and "not make a scene".
And too many others willing to grumble at the scene-maker and not the justifiable cause of the scene.
No wonder the states are going bankrupt. If they spend their money on such trivia they certainly are incapable of living on a budget.
The sad, unpublished reality is that as local governments lose tax revenue and regulators lose firms to bankruptcies, both have stepped up "enforcement"of idiotic regulation against the firms that are still hanging on.
Torturing fees out of regulated entities that haven't had the good sense to close up shop yet is how they're raising money these days. The lemonade stands are just an example, I think.
But, you know, those evil firms aren't hiring just to piss off the Obamassiah. They're sitting on massive cash hordes and won't just fritter them away the way that congress is willing to do. For our own good. Of course.
Cabodog, one of the best memories of childhood, for many of us, is having a lemonade or maybe Cool-aid stand. The possibility of making more than a week or month's worth of allowance, in a couple of hours of enthusisatic work, was exhilarating.
A visit by the authorities would be scary and take all of the fun out of being independant for part of a day. Thank you for standing up.
My son operated his stand under the following conditions:
1. He'd have a loan from dad for the supplies (cups, lemonade mix and ice)
2. From his gross (almost $180), he'd pay back the loan to dad, give 25% of the balance to charity, save 50% and have 25% to spend foolishly.
Our local bank actually has a program to lend kids the stand and let him operate right outside their front door.
Of course, he opened his savings account with them.
Lemonade stands are a great learning experience. It's infectious to have all that cash thrown at your eight-year-old hands!
Unfortunately, these days, the learning experience is just a little too much. However, our kids need to learn this stuff too, and what a great lesson for dealing with government.
Conservatives in the making? Maybe we need to thank our current overzealous governments for teaching our kids at such an impressionable age? :)
"Our local bank actually has a program to lend kids the stand and let him operate right outside their front door."
So, your local bank is run by scofflaws? :-)
It sounds like your son had a great experience that day. He's a lucky boy. He should do well as an adult with the kind of good start you are giving him.
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