Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
25 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, income redistribution, labour economics, macroeconomics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: France
Earlier this month, in Part V of my series on the U.S. vs. Europe (previous versions available here, here, here, and here), I shared a chart showing the OECD calculations of “Actual Individual Consumption.” The AIC numbers are designed to give people an apples-to-apples comparison of living standards. I’m re-sharing the chart today, and I’ve […]
Are Living Standards Higher in France or Mississippi?
25 May 2026 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy Tags: British constitutional law, British politics
After months of parliamentary debate, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 (‘English Devolution Act’) received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. The Act has important implications for the relationship between central and local government and the long-running ‘English question’ in UK constitutional politics. This post situates the Act within almost three decades of […]
Thomas Poole and Elena De Nictolis: The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026
25 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, fiscal policy, James Buchanan, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, Public Choice, public economics
Jeff Bezos tweeted: Yes, the United States has the most progressive tax system in the world. The top 1% pay 40% of taxes, the bottom 50% pay 3% of taxes. We can make it even more progressive by zeroing out taxes on the bottom half. It’s a small amount of the total tax revenue but…
Liberal Economists Score an Own Goal Against Bezos
24 May 2026 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, Public Choice Tags: Scotland
The electoral system used for the Scottish Parliament is more restrictive than the Westminster parliamentary electoral system, and recognizing this characteristic is key to understanding the result of this election.
Scotland 2026: A normal election for its MMP design
24 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought
I spoke on a panel at AEI with Nobelist Al Roth about his new book, Moral Economics, which covers “repugnant markets,” from prostitution to surrogacy to kidney exchange. A fun book! My case study was acting. Acting was considered repugnant for over 2,000 years. In Rome, actors could not vote, hold office, or be trusted…
Repugnant Economics
24 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
I’ve shared several columns (here, here, here, here, and here) reviewing scholarly research on the harmful economic impact of wealth taxation. From now on, however, I think I’ll simply share this clever video from the folks at Reason. The video uses humor to make very important points about how a wealth tax would diminish incentives […]
The (Amusingly) Destructive Economics of Wealth Taxation
24 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of regulation, environmental economics, environmentalism, history of economic thought, law and economics, Murray Rothbard, property rights, Public Choice
SummaryThis chapter, on “Conservation, Ecology, and Growth,” is an early statement of free-market environmentalism. It begins by ridiculing leftists’ decades of contradictory complaints about capitalism: “Stagnation; deficient growth; overaffluence; overpoverty; the intellectual fashions changed like ladies’ hemlines,” and quoting one of Schumpeter’s best lines:Capitalism stands its trial before judges who have the sentence of death…
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 13
24 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic growth, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, macroeconomics, Marxist economics Tags: North Korea, South Korea
As far as I know, Matt Mitchell and I are not related, but we both have a low opinion of socialism. He covers a lot of ground (defining socialism, the role of prices, socialism’s death toll, and the myth of Nordic socialism) in this 15-minute interview. Matt does such a good job that I didn’t […]
The Case Against Socialism, Part V
23 May 2026 Leave a comment
in transport economics, urban economics
While Wendover Productions, the maker of this video, believes in high-speed rail, it shows that the California project was poorly planned. Planners optimistically believed it could be built in the U.S. for the same costs that high-speed rail had been built in Europe. Among other things, they failed to account … Continue reading →
Why California High-Speed Rail Failed
23 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Armen Alchian, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, survivor principle, theory of the firm
One of the most persistent criticisms of law & economics is that it rests on unrealistic assumptions. Economic models often assume firms maximize profits, investors respond rationally to incentives, and market participants systematically adjust their behavior in predictable ways. Critics frequently point to these assumptions as evidence that economic analysis is detached from reality. Real…
‘Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory,’ by Armen Alchian
23 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, entrepreneurship, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, market efficiency, occupational choice, survivor principle, theory of the firm
California has seen the future of work, and Sacramento’s first instinct is to convene 14 task forces about it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-6-26 today, setting California’s workforce agencies in motion on directives involving research reviews, revisions to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, studies of new safety-net programs, a…
The AI Jobs Panic Comes to Sacramento
23 May 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, international economics, macroeconomics, public economics Tags: Sweden
I don’t often claim to be ahead of the curve, but I’m going to pat myself on the back in today’s column about Swedish economic policy. More than 16 years ago, I started writing about Sweden’s shift from statism to markets. More than 14 years ago, I praised Swedish policy makers for significantly reducing the […]
The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of Sweden, Part IV
22 May 2026 Leave a comment
Henry Cooke writes: There are good reasons for our politicians to look seriously at the long-term affordability of superannuation. It is by far our largest benefit, and largest single-ticket item, taking up around 16.6% of tax revenue and 5% of GDP. It costs close to five times what we spend on the unemployment benefit or…
The bigger cost saving for NZ Super
22 May 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
If you’re getting weary of the endless but necessary attacks on Nicholas Kristof for his misleading and almost antisemitic column about Israel’s “policy” of sexually assaulting Palestinian prisoners, Roy K. Altman has written in the Free Press the definitive critique of Kristof’s column—that is, until investigations by Israel reveal more information. Wikipedia identifies Altman as…
A federal judge takes apart Nicholas Kristof’s controversial accusations against Israel
22 May 2026 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, property rights
Winston should be ashamed
Myth, Memory and the BNZ
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
A History of the Alt-Right
Econ Prof at George Mason University, Economic Historian, Québécois
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more
Beatrice Cherrier's blog
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
A rural perspective with a blue tint by Ele Ludemann
DPF's Kiwiblog - Fomenting Happy Mischief since 2003
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change
Tim Harding's writings on rationality, informal logic and skepticism
A window into Doc Freiberger's library
Let's examine hard decisions!
Commentary on monetary policy in the spirit of R. G. Hawtrey
Thoughts on public policy and the media
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Politics and the economy
A blog (primarily) on Canadian and Commonwealth political history and institutions
Reading between the lines, and underneath the hype.
Economics, and such stuff as dreams are made on
"The British constitution has always been puzzling, and always will be." --Queen Elizabeth II
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST
Undisciplined scholar, recovering academic
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Res ipsa loquitur - The thing itself speaks
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
Researching the House of Commons, 1832-1868
Articles and research from the History of Parliament Trust
Reflections on books and art
Posts on the History of Law, Crime, and Justice
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Exploring the Monarchs of Europe
Cutting edge science you can dice with
Small Steps Toward A Much Better World
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments