Zvi is tackling Jones Act repeal: https://thezvi.substack.com/p/announcing-balsa-research https://thezvi.substack.com/p/announcing-balsa-research. One interest

Zvi is tackling Jones Act repeal: https://thezvi.substack.com/p/announcing-balsa-research https://thezvi.substack.com/p/announcing-balsa-research. One interesting point he makes is that it can be cheaper to simply buy out the special interests; in this case, can we support the shipbuilder unions and manufacturing capacity by committing to increase direct navy contracts in some way? The general argument being that the special interests capture some value X, and the diffuse costs borne by society are Y, and Y >> X. So if we just pay ~X from some other pot, we still come out ahead as a society. Put differently, is there a more targeted way of achieving the original goals of the Jones Act, without distorting the markets and raising costs as much? It seems likely.