"'Cause Time Goes By Like Hurricanes, Runnin' After Subway Trains, Don't Forget The Pouring Rain"*

We debated the merits of the 1.6 gallon toilet rule in a graduate microeconomics class. I was the only one outraged by this unnecessary regulation. My classmates talked about externalities and 'good intentions.' I screamed about steak dinners ruined by stopped toilets. They talked about saving water. I screamed about no toilet innovations. (Think about the possibilities, an adjustable flow gauge and bigger bowls, but no, we are stuck with these 1.6 gallon jobs that have to be flushed three times anyway. Where is the water savings when you have to flush the damn thing three times?)

Was I wrong?

Subjective positivists have a problem here. They do not see what is not seen. They have a difficult time seeing that their solutions cause greater problems. They are too quick to take the rules as given. They are not quick enough to see that 1.6 gallons is sometimes not enough and too much other times. They do not see that 2.0 gallons might prevent double flushes and actually save water. They avoid the incentives problems in water rationing and come up with some stupid regulation that discriminates against fat-asses.

A normative Truth: Government's only role is to enforce the Constituion. It has no business in wallets, bedrooms or bathrooms.

Why this bitching?

I get back from Thanksgiving dinner last night. I used the bathroom. I am forced to get a plunger. I get on the elevator with the first good-looking girl I have seen in days. She rides the elevator with me and my plunger.

Where is the utility in that?

I like to stop-up the President's toilet who signed this one into law.

Note to self:
My father's discussion on religion is a good blog topic.

*The Allman Brother Band's "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"
"Don't forget the pouring rain"