Leibowitz: Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something!

These days, there seem to be many emergencies. The impulse of government leaders often is to declare a crisis and then succumb to a dangerous tendency — don’t just stand there, DO something!

Last June, the President issued a proclamation on imports of solar panels and cells, declaring a national emergency on the supply of components for solar projects. There was, the President declared, a shortage of equipment for solar projects. Solar cells and panels were needed for building renewable energy projects, and domestic production was inadequate to meet the need. On top of that, a small solar energy producer filed a petition to expand the reach of antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese products to solar arrays from four Asian countries — Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.