Interesting blog bits

1. Viral Acharya on Systemic risk and deposit insurance premiums. Financial institutions enjoy a large number of government guarantees. This column says that we ought to be charging banks for such subsidies and doing so in a way that promotes financial stability. It uses the example of demand deposit insurance in the US to explore the poor design of funding for such guarantees.
2. Eric Crampton on Tiebout and Auckland: Sir Roger gets it. Eric has complained before that nobody else seems to have noticed that Auckland's amalgamation will reduce Tiebout competition. But Sir Roger Douglas seems to have gotten the idea.
3. Jeffrey Miron on Antitrust Policy and Uncertainty. One negative of antitrust policy is increased uncertainty and delay for relevant market participants. The pending purchase of Sun Microsystems by Oracle provides a good example argues Miron.
4. Don Boudreaux on Sourpuss Monopolists. Lawrence Graham argues, in a letter in the Wall Street Journal, that the quota that US imposes on sugar imports should be raised. Mr. Graham isn’t quite correct: that quota should be abolished.
5. BK Drinkwater asks Why Tax Cows? Methane emissions from livestock is not a big issue.
6. Robert Fogel on Forecasting the Cost of U.S. Healthcare. It aren't easy!