We can thank @GreenpeaceNZ for lower petrol prices
24 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, environmental economics, global warming Tags: offsetting behaviour, Oil prices, unintended consequences
The most terrifying waves on the planet
24 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture
A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That Political Correctness Is a Menace and a Bore
23 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in liberalism, politics - USA Tags: political correctness
Brits Tear Down Lake District Wind Turbines to Restore Pristine Views: Locals Delighted
23 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in economics
Kirkby Moor, Furness Peninsula in Cumbria finally set free.
Among the wind cult, it’s apparently the ‘aesthetics’ of these things that titillate the senses and get their juices flowing: just knowing that they’re out there somewhere (in someone else’s backyard, not their own) gently caressing the breezes, is more than enough for starry-eyed wind worshippers.
Ignore the hundreds of $billions squandered on subsidies for a power generation system, abandoned centuries ago, for pretty obvious reasons; ignore the chaotic, occasional delivery of power which, but for those subsidies, has no commercial value because it can’t be delivered as and when power consumers want it; ignore rocketing retail power prices in places like Denmark, Germany and South Australia (all said to run on sunshine and/or breezes and all paying the highest power prices in the world); and ignore the millions of birds and bats, sliced, diced and belted to Kingdom Come each and…
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Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Travel Ban 3.0
23 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in economics
Despite a recent order from the Supreme Court lifting lower court injunctions on the travel ban, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Travel Ban 3.0 is little more than a bad sequel with the same unconstitutional theme. I have previously written that I view the controlling precedent as favoring President Trump on the travel ban. This opinion did little to change my mind on that legal point.
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Thatcher on Consensus vs Conviction
23 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, Public Choice Tags: Margaret Thatcher
Didn’t know plastic bags decomposed in a few decades @GreenpeaceNZ
23 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in environmental economics Tags: plastic bags
There are no externalities from hosting the America’s Cup because externalities arise from incomplete property rights
23 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, politics - New Zealand, rentseeking, sports economics
Externalities arise out of incomplete property rights. The only externalities that arise from an airport expansion proposed in Wellington is from noise.
There are no externalities from building sports stadiums or hosting mega sports events because all of the effects are transacted through the market. No inputs are used without the permission of the owner, nothing is produced that is not charged for by the venue or event organisers.
As for the use of benefit cost analysis to strengthen the claim for a government subsidy, you use cost benefit analysis when you are too stupid to charge for the good or service such as a road or you are evaluating regulations because they deal with nonmarket effects, effects that are not mediated through the market process.
Sports stadiums and mega sports events should pass the usual market test. Is it profitable for the entrepreneurs backing the project when they are using their own money.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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