Outgoing governments often try to craft a legacy for themselves by introducing policy traps that incoming governments find hard to undo, such as Rishi Sunak’s National Insurance cuts in 2024 or Gordon Brown’s introduction of the 50p top rate of income tax in 2010. Keir Starmer just did something similar by initiating a huge expansion in the […]
New Zealand shows how to solve the equal pay crisis
New Zealand shows how to solve the equal pay crisis
07 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, economic history, economics of regulation, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap
Mapping the World of Rap Lyrics
07 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in Music
A New Article in EPJ Data Science
Mapping the World of Rap Lyrics
Hiroshima and “Little Boy”: A Historical Perspective
07 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of religion, laws of war, war and peace Tags: atomic bombings, Japan, World War II
On August 6, 1945, the world witnessed the devastating power of nuclear warfare for the first time when the United States dropped an atomic bomb, code-named “Little Boy,” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This event marked a significant turning point in World War II and had profound implications for international relations, warfare, and ethics. […]
Hiroshima and “Little Boy”: A Historical Perspective
The New McCarthys: Forty Percent of Professors Would Vote Against Hiring a Trump Voter
06 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
According to a new survey, roughly 40 percent of college faculty would “oppose hiring a Trump supporter.” The results of…
The New McCarthys: Forty Percent of Professors Would Vote Against Hiring a Trump Voter
The False Equivalence of Islamophobia and Antisemitism
06 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics Tags: Freedom of religion, racial discrimination
Islamophobia and antisemitism are often discussed as though they were equivalent forms of prejudice: one directed against Muslims and the other against Jews. At a superficial level, the comparison is understandable. Muslims and Jews may both face hostility, discrimination, vilification and violence because of their perceived identity. Such treatment is wrong in either case. But […]
The False Equivalence of Islamophobia and Antisemitism
One Nation Party and Antisemitism
05 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
One Nation spokesmen such as Malcolm Roberts and Warren Pickering have expressed conspiracy theorist allegations about global ‘cabals’ and ‘parasites’ controlling the world’s finances. To what extent is this likely to be a euphemistic form of antisemitism? In Malcolm Roberts’s case, there is a strong basis for describing the rhetoric as a coded or euphemistic […]
One Nation Party and Antisemitism
Caturday felid trifecta: The woman with a thousand cats; Larry the Cat makes michief, but chases a fox away from Downing Street; a very early fossil felid; and lagniappe
05 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in cats
Okay we’ll have a Caturday this week, but we’ll see about forthcoming weeks. If you have a cat-related item for me to consider, by all means send it along. First, we have an eight-minute video of a real “cat lady”, who has over a thousand moggies. She’s turned her house into a sanctuary/rescue center/adoption center, so…
Caturday felid trifecta: The woman with a thousand cats; Larry the Cat makes michief, but chases a fox away from Downing Street; a very early fossil felid; and lagniappe
The population bust
05 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, labour economics, labour supply, population economics
The Confession of Joe Biden
05 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA
Below is my column in The Hill on the release of the tapes from former President Joe Biden’s interview with…
The Confession of Joe Biden
Yet more “pretty (il)legal” stuff from the Reserve Bank
05 Aug 2026 1 Comment
in economics of bureaucracy, inflation targeting, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: monetary policy
A month or so ago the Reserve Bank announced the appointment of a new Assistant Governor (a deputy chief executive) responsible for its financial stability functions. That must have prompted a Bloomberg journalist to ask what was happening to the vacant position on the Monetary Policy Committee (given that, previously, Geoff Bascand and then Christian […]
Yet more “pretty (il)legal” stuff from the Reserve Bank
Britain told to rethink net zero strategy as costs soar
05 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: British politics, climate alarmism, solar power, wind power
By Paul Homewood Of course, it is not a rethink required – the whole needs scrapping now. A new report has warned the United Kingdom is set to face a £40 billion annual bill by the end of the decade as its drive towards net zero energy continues. In a new study The […]
Britain told to rethink net zero strategy as costs soar
The Cost of War
04 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, energy economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Iran
You hear me, you gutless bastard? You’re going back to the front.
04 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, health economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
On Aug. 3, 1943, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton slapped a soldier who was hospitalized for psychoneurosis, accusing him of cowardice. The incident nearly ended Patton’s career.. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, commander of the Seventh U.S. Army, visited a military hospital in Sicily on Aug. 3, 1943. He traveled past the beds of wounded […]
You hear me, you gutless bastard? You’re going back to the front.
Germany’s Industrial Suicide… Grid Agency Prepares Secret Power Rationing Plans Amid Electric Power Bottlenecks
04 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: Germany
The threat of sudden, uncompensated power shutdowns creates immense operational uncertainty. This environment deters foreign investors and pressures domestic industrial companies to shift investment and production abroad. Forced curtailments would primary hit energy-intensive key industries, including aluminum, copper, steel, chemical, glass, and paper manufacturing. The post Germany’s Industrial Suicide… Grid Agency Prepares Secret Power Rationing…
Germany’s Industrial Suicide… Grid Agency Prepares Secret Power Rationing Plans Amid Electric Power Bottlenecks
Farmers can’t avoid high synthetic nitrogen fertiliser prices by switching to organic fertiliser
04 Aug 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, energy economics, industrial organisation
The New Zealand Herald reported yesterday:New Zealand farmers face hefty increases in the price of fertiliser this spring as a result of the escalating US-Iran conflict and the war in Ukraine.The Middle East plays a big role in the global fertiliser market because of its supply of natural gas and mineral resources.Russia is also a…
Farmers can’t avoid high synthetic nitrogen fertiliser prices by switching to organic fertiliser
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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