How a Controversial Shipping Law Is Swaying the Price of Gas
1st July 2022
There are two types of people in this world. The first is those who have never heard of the Jones Act, the law that requires American-built and staffed ships for maritime commerce within the U.S. I imagine these folks sleep peacefully each night and live in balanced harmony.
The other type is not so lucky. They have an impassioned, unshakeable opinion of the Jones Act. They believe it is either the root of all evil in the U.S. or believe it is something to be protected unselfishly. Doing away with the Jones Act, according to them, would either spark the collapse of Western civilization or would solve all earthly ills.
If you’re outside the shipping world, you probably struggle to believe that Jones Act lovers or haters comprise a meaningful segment of the U.S. And yet they do. Politicians have tried for decades to repeal the protectionist law, only to be met with a lobbying group that late Sen. John McCain called the most powerful he ever encountered.
Ponder how much of our economic pain is self-inflicted: Special-interest legislation that either favors one select group over the rest of the population, or attempts to force reality to conform to some absurd political theory.