[USMA:35158] Re: Government conversion mandates

[Phil Chernack]

While the feds cannot “mandate” metrication, they can make it very difficult to do business otherwise.  For instance, if Congress made metric the only official system (as permitted under the constitution) the government could refuse to do business in non-metric measures.  NIST could refuse to provide states with non-metric standards saying it is up to the states to determine and maintain non-metric standards.  We know where that would go.  If business and states were faced with no support for non-metric measures they would have no choice but to convert.  In a way, this was tried with highway construction and we know the results.  The keyword here is backbone.  Congress has none and thus, a long-term good idea gets squashed for short-term ignorance.   Of course, the above scenario will never happen.  It is stated and legislated government policy that although metric is the preferred system of measurement, its use and conversion is voluntary.  Keep in mind it is still the government’s objective to get the U.S. to be predominantly metric.   Phil From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Elwell Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 11:22 AM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:35157] Re: Government conversion mandates   At 3 11 05, 09:18 PM, Scott Hudnall wrote: It seems that the US government has no problem issuing conversion mandates with hard deadlines, when it businesses and government stand to profit at the expense of consumers. Obviously, there is the political will to force the American public to convert their television sets. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w165755S23.DTL My comments: (1) The government may be issuing mandates here, but they have horrendously slowed down the introduction of HDTV for two decades. Not a good model for metrication. See http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/020805-tk.html (2) The federal government does have regulatory control over telecommunications, dating back to the early 1900s when the airwaves were considered "scarce." Of course, modern technology has pretty much removed the scarcity, but the chance of telecommunications (wired or wireless) being deregulated are slim. (3) You folks continue to converse as if the federal government could simply mandate metrication. It can in some areas (e.g., drugs) but has no regulatory control over much of the economy. In other words, the US Federal Government, even if it found the legislative majority to do so, could not simply mandate the whole country and economy metricate. It would be thrown out by the courts. Jim Elwell Jim Elwell, CAMS Electrical Engineer Industrial manufacturing manager Salt Lake City, Utah, USA www.qsicorp.com