Other possible plans include rewarding firms for maintaining stand-by capacity to supply power to the grid in an emergency, and preventing the construction of new coal stations that do not have some way of capturing and storing their planet-heating emissions.

ECONOMIST: Britain can have clean energy or cheap energy, but not both

The city's rent regulations date back to the post-World War I era, when a severe housing shortage caused by an influx of returning troops and a dearth of new construction prompted Albany to adopt an emergency rent law.

WSJ: 1-BR, $1,000: Rent Control In Court Test

Just in industries directly related to autos, trillions of dollars change hands each year flowing to and from auto insurers, auto financiers, service and repair shops, rental agencies, taxi operators, fleet managers, oil companies, transportation and logistics companies, emergency rooms, health insurers, medical practices, personal-injury lawyers, government taxing authorities, road-construction companies, parking-lot operators, and on and on and on.

FORBES: Google's Driverless Car Is Just One of Many Looming Disruptions

The fact is that a driverless car would slash hundreds of billions of dollars of annual revenue, or even trillions, from all sorts of entities: car makers, parts suppliers, car dealers, auto insurers, auto financiers, body shops, emergency rooms, health insurers, medical practices, personal-injury lawyers, government taxing authorities, road-construction companies, parking-lot operators, oil companies, owners of urban real estate, and on and on and on.

FORBES: Google's Trillion-Dollar Driverless Car -- Part 2: The Ripple Effects