Bashar al-Assad has been the President of Syria since 2000, inheriting power from his father, Hafez al-Assad. His presidency has been marked by widespread human rights abuses, war crimes, and violations of international law, particularly during the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011. As the leader of the Syrian government, Assad’s policies and military […]
Here is a gloomy account from Vladimir Mirov: Ruble depreciation will contribute to inflation even further, as Russia is continued to be heavily reliant on imports – this is a kind of self-sustaining spiral. I also strongly disagree with those who say that cheaper ruble is “good” for exporters and the budget. Exporters have yet […]
Bryan Caplan and Daniel Klein both opine on Milei and populism, Dan being very enthusiastic, while Bryan praising Milei but more reserved in his praise of populism. I too am a big fan of Milei, and I think he is still on a good track. If his reforms do not succeed, likely it will not […]
In the pantheon of charitable music events, few stand as tall as Band Aid, the groundbreaking 1984 charity supergroup. Conceived by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox, Band Aid was formed to combat the devastating famine in Ethiopia, a crisis that had gripped global attention. Their mission: to raise funds […]
My dear friend and colleague Dan Klein wrote this. He loves feedback, so please share your thoughts in the comments. And he’d especially appreciate reactions from friends Shikha Dalmia and Nils Karlson, which I’d definitely be glad to run.P.S. Dan asked me to link to the latest Milei news.I define popuphobe as someone who propagates…
By Paul Homewood One of our readers sent me this correspondence he had with the BBC a few weeks ago: Below is a letter I wrote at the beginning of October to Tony Grant, the editor of Radio 4’s ‘From our Own Correspondent’: Dear Mr Grant, I listened with disbelief at your piece […]
This month, there is a new case on the docket after the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The First Circuit reversed a trial court that dismissed the case, alleging that the American firearms industry is legally responsible for violence in Mexico. I believe the First Circuit is […]
I’m back from my first trip to India, where I visited Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, and Amritsar. I enjoyed fine company in all four cities. In Mumbai, my new friend Sachin Aggarwal, head of the local EconTalk Club, rolled out the red carpet — and ACX Mumbai joined the festivities. (Thank you, Scott Alexander, for creating…
The Nobel prize goes to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson for their work on institutions, prosperity, and economic growth. Here is a key piece summarizing their work: Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth. This paper develops the empirical and theoretical case that differences in economic institutions are the fundamental cause of […]
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024 has been awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.” Each year, the Nobel Committee helpfully publishes both a “Popular information” overview of of the award and a “Scientific Background” essay that goes into greater depth.…
I sometimes make the theoretical case against socialism. Usually, this means exposing the flaws of the core components of the socialist ideology. Government ownership of the means of production is a recipe for resource misallocation. Central planning has a miserable track record of failure because consumer preferences are ignored. Price controls distort incentives to make […]
About 10 days ago, i showed that Milton Friedman was a much better economist than Joseph Stiglitz by comparing Chile (which followed Friedman’s ideas) and Venezuela (which followed Stiglitz’s ideas). It was a slam-dunk win for Friedman. Chile started poor and has become relatively prosperous. The opposite happened in Venezuela, which started relatively prosperous and […]
It’s unbelievable that the bulk of American progressive liberals and academics seems to sympathize with a group of terrorist thugs who not only invaded Israel and killed 1,139 people, many in gruesome ways, including killing women after raping them, but also took 250 hostages of various nationalities, including children, into Gaza to use as bargaining […]
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.
“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.
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