Scott Freeman’s textbook on the GFC
22 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, economic history, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), great depression, great recession, history of economic thought, labour economics, macroeconomics, monetarism, monetary economics, unemployment Tags: monetary policy
AI, Redistribution, and the Size of the Pie
22 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation Tags: creative destruction
Anthropic’s economic team, including Anton Korinek and Chad Jones, have a valuable new paper, Economic Scenarios for Transformative AI. They make their assumptions explicit and provide a scenario explorer that lets you change them. How capable will AI become? How quickly will firms adopt it? Will it augment workers or automate their tasks? You can…
AI, Redistribution, and the Size of the Pie
President Trump Stubbornly Clings to Archaic Mercantilist Economics
22 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in Adam Smith, applied price theory, economic history, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: free trade, tarrifs
He who dies with the most hoarded cash does not, in fact, win.
President Trump Stubbornly Clings to Archaic Mercantilist Economics
UK productivity higher than we had thought
22 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, macroeconomics
UK productivity rose at almost twice the pace previously estimated in the decade after the 2008 global financial crisis, according to new official figures that make Britain look much less of an international outlier. Output per hour worked, the main measure of labour productivity, grew by an average of 1.3 per cent per year between…
UK productivity higher than we had thought
The Tragedy of Nikole Hannah-Jones
21 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, politics - USA
Nikole Hannah-Jones famously sent her child to a predominantly black/lower-income public school in New York City. Now her child says she shouldn’t have been used as political fodder. The essay makes for hard reading and I acknowledge NHJ’s courage in writing about her mistakes and the cost to her child. The piece is raw and…
The Tragedy of Nikole Hannah-Jones
Canada Reduces the Tax Burden on New Investment
21 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in economic growth, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, public economics Tags: Canada, taxation and investment
Until about 10 years ago, I often wrote positive columns about Canadian policy. I praised our northern neighbors for spending restraint, corporate tax reform, bank bailout policy, regulatory budgeting, the tax treatment of saving, and private air traffic control. Unfortunately, Canada then became more statist under Pierre Trudeau Justin Trudeau (understandable mistake on my part). And I […]
Canada Reduces the Tax Burden on New Investment
Scott Freeman on Endogenous Cycles and Growth with Indivisible Technological Developments
21 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, business cycles, economic growth, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetary economics
The unfair competition argument and the push for a ‘Temu tax’
21 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics Tags: free trade, tariffs
There are many arguments put forward for why trade should be restricted. In my ECONS102 class last week, as part of our topic on international trade and globalisation we covered five of the most common, each of which has a little story that goes along with it:The jobs argument: Trade with other countries will lower…
The unfair competition argument and the push for a ‘Temu tax’
New Rule: Clash of Civilizations | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
20 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of religion, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: war against terror
Scott Freeman on monetarism again
20 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in business cycles, econometerics, economic growth, economic history, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, monetarism, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy
The economics of pricing AFL Finals tickets
20 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, sports economics
In my ECONS101 class, we have a topic that is devoted to understanding pricing and business strategies that deviate from the ideal ‘marginal revenue equal to marginal cost’ approach to pricing for firms with market power. In particular, I focus part of the topic on firms that price below the short-run profit-maximising price for strategic…
The economics of pricing AFL Finals tickets
The Commerce Commission goes rafting
20 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, law and economics Tags: competition law, merger law enforcement
Back in June, the Commerce Commission ruled on the case of a proposed merger between three commercial rafting operators in Rotorua. As the New Zealand Herald reported (in August):The Commerce Commission has approved the merger of Rotorua’s three commercial rafting operators, much to the pleasant surprise of those behind the bid.The ruling, finalised in June, came…
The Commerce Commission goes rafting
Aberdeen hydrogen bus fleet sold for just 6% of original public investment
19 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, transport economics, urban economics Tags: British politics
Last year, I reported how all of these buses had been mothballed because of a lack of hydrogen supply in Aberdeen. Presumably the eco-nutters thought it came out of thin air! The post Aberdeen hydrogen bus fleet sold for just 6% of original public investment appeared first on Watts Up With That?.
Aberdeen hydrogen bus fleet sold for just 6% of original public investment
Report: California’s Proposed ‘Billionaire Tax’ Is Based on Bad Research
19 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, public economics Tags: California, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment
The planned wealth tax leads slightly in the polls and is already driving capital flight.
Report: California’s Proposed ‘Billionaire Tax’ Is Based on Bad Research
Who values democracy?
19 Sep 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, econometerics, economic history
This paper examines the conventional view that redistribution is central to the democratization process using data from stock markets. Consistent with this view, democratizations have a large, negative impact on asset valuations driven by a rise in redistribution risk. Across 90 countries over 200 years, risk premia are substantially elevated— similar in magnitude to financial…
Who values democracy?
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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