See Socialists, Knowledge of History and Agency. These are letters to the editor of The WSJ in response to an article about socialism by Joseph Epstein. The one below reminded me of a 1992 article by Robert Samuelson in Newsweek. “Joseph Epstein’s “Socialists Don’t Know History” (op-ed, May 30, 2019) on the abysmal historical knowledge…
Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism and Intellectuals
Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism and Intellectuals
01 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, history of economic thought Tags: creative destruction
The Treaty – Drowning in a sea of misinformation in 2026
01 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
I write this as a descendant of Henry Williams, who arrived here in 1823 as an ex Royal Navy officer and Head of the Church Missionary Society of New Zealand. He translated the Treaty of Waitangi into te reo Maori in 1840. The document he prepared with his eldest son Edward, on the evening of […]
The Treaty – Drowning in a sea of misinformation in 2026
LINDSAY MITCHELL: HOW THE SALLIES HAVE EVOLVED TO BECOME PART OF THE PROBLEM
28 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, labour economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, welfare reform Tags: Maori economic development, racial discrimination
The 2026 Salvation Army State of the Nation Report revealed their official conversion to wokeism by repeatedly finding excuses for Maori over-representation in poor social stats because of victimisation through colonisation. This caused a number of readers to ponder future contributions to the organisation. But it isn’t just this development that should concern donors. The…
LINDSAY MITCHELL: HOW THE SALLIES HAVE EVOLVED TO BECOME PART OF THE PROBLEM
It Has Become Cheaper to Lose Weight
28 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, health economics, industrial organisation Tags: creative destruction
Finding out that GLP-1 drugs can help reduce weight has been life changing for many and could stem the social costs of being overweight. Recently, prices have fallen dramatically. I asked ChatGPT to for some summary data for Wegovy & Zepbound which I plot below. Competition matters. Initially, Wegovy was the effective monopolist selling at a list price…
It Has Become Cheaper to Lose Weight
The abomination of Britain’s Gorton and Denton by-election
28 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics Tags: British politics, regressive left
The UK is having one of its regular by-elections, this time in Gorton and Denton, a constituency in Manchester. The constituency was new at the 2024 election, and at the time was won by Labour’s Andrew Gwynne with 50.8% of the vote, with Reform a distant second on 14.1%. Gwynne had been an MP for…
The abomination of Britain’s Gorton and Denton by-election
‘Disaster’! Climate groups slam Germany for scrapping renewable heating law
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, Public Choice, urban economics Tags: Germany
“Habeck’s heating hammer” set to bite the dust. Maybe net zero zealotry is not the complete answer to modern energy supply after all, despite what its supporters keep claiming. – – – A revision of an existing law will now allow homeowners to use oil and gas as heating fuel instead, says Euronews. Germany’s government […]
‘Disaster’! Climate groups slam Germany for scrapping renewable heating law
The Party Dominated Economy, Part 2
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, industrial organisation, politics - USA
The NY Times realizes that Trump is not a free market capitalist
The Party Dominated Economy, Part 2
Competition, elasticity and weight-loss drugs
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, health economics, industrial organisation
See The Weight-Loss Price Wars Are Breaking Big Pharma’s Business Model: Prices for GLP-1s are falling fast and forcing companies to adapt by David Wainer of The WSJ.”Two years ago, a GLP-1 prescription could cost an uninsured patient more than $1,000 a month. Today, Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill starts at just $149 through cash-pay programs.””Typically, drug…
Competition, elasticity and weight-loss drugs
The history of anti-semitism
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust racial discrimination, World War II
Ashley Church writes: The Holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers of Auschwitz or Treblinka. It began much earlier, with ideas, laws, exclusions, and the slow normalisation of cruelty. The part that history often forgets. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, there was no plan to exterminate the Jews. What did exist…
The history of anti-semitism
Jesse Singal’s op-ed in the NYT: A turning point in “affirmative care”?
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: sex discrimination
For two reasons I think that Jesse Singal‘s long op-ed (really a “guest essay”) in today’s NYT will mark a turning point in public and professional attitudes towards “affirmative care.” First, the NYT saw fit to publish a piece showing that many American medical associations have promoted “affirmative care” of gender-dysphoric adolescents, despite those associations…
Jesse Singal’s op-ed in the NYT: A turning point in “affirmative care”?
Yes Minister | The Whisky Priest | Civil Moral Vacuum
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in television, TV shows
Seven Lies We’re Told About Climate Change | Michael Shellenberger
26 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of education, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: climate alarmism
By Paul Homewood Michael Shellenberger is one of the best communicators I have come across. Here he unpicks a lot of the myths around climate change. It is a long video – what I often do is watch 10 or 15 minute chunks Alternatively, watch the first couple of minutes and then fast forward […]
Seven Lies We’re Told About Climate Change | Michael Shellenberger
The bizarre world of Advertising
26 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of information, economics of media and culture, history of economic thought, industrial organisation
It is not often I am speechless but that is exactly what I was when I saw some of these advertisements and products from days of yore. You would not get away with it by today’s standards. Vintage newspaper ad for heroin Who doesn’t like a bit of cocaine on their candy. Stay fit and […]
The bizarre world of Advertising
“Tough on crime” is good for young men
26 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
Using data from hundreds of closely contested partisan elections from 2010 to 2019 and a vote share regression discontinuity design, we find that narrow election of a Republican prosecutor reduces all-cause mortality rates among young men ages 20 to 29 by 6.6%. This decline is driven predominantly by reductions in firearm-related deaths, including a large reduction in firearm…
“Tough on crime” is good for young men
The changing face of Europe
26 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply Tags: economics of immigration
I’m going to quote from UK’s Matt Goodwin. I do so as someone who is pro-immigration. I think moderate, controlled immigration is good for a country, and specifically has been good for New Zealand. But a good thing can become a bad thing is if it too large, or uncontrolled. If NZ took in 1…
The changing face of Europe
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments