Global extreme poverty since @jeremycorbyn @BernieSanders were elected to office to fight for socialism
25 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
Adam Smith and the Follies of Central Planning
20 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in Adam Smith, applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, history of economic thought, Public Choice Tags: central planning, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge
Nighttime Satellite Map of Syria Before and After the Start of the Civil War
18 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
Neo-colonial @oxfamnz continues to bully small island states
16 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, environmental economics, global warming, international economic law, international economics, public economics
Oxfam joins others on the reactionary left in seeking to bully former colonies over their economic policies, in particular, their tax policies that promote tax havens.
The Cayman Islands is a British overseas territory that chooses to stay British with limited self-government. If the British were to start bullying it over its tax haven and offshore financial centre policies, it would immediately seek independence.
This attempt by former colonial masters to bully small countries to toe their line on tax policies is not done in any way for the benefit of these former colonies and their economic development. It is old-fashioned imperialism with a new motivation, tax imperialism. The aim is to prevent capital flight and the erosion of the business tax base in developed countries.
This is a seething hypocrisy given that Oxfam was all for #TPPANoWay. It is OK to go your own way on tariffs, intellectual property and investment and other economic regulations but not taxes. Countries have a tariff sovereignty but not a tax sovereignty.
This is a self-serving neo-colonial hypocrisy. The sovereignty arguments for #TPPANoWay are identical to those for the right of countries to act as tax havens. Identical. Tariffs deny other countries export markets; tax havens deny other countries tax revenue.
Small island states were left-wing and environmentalist heroes on climate change at the most recent conference on global warming in Paris but are villains regarding tax havens. In both cases, these small countries are exercising their sovereignty regarding their foreign policies and economic policies.
Oxfam believes that the democratic rights of former colonies do not extend to shaping their own economic policies. Oxfam wants them to be put on a neo-colonial leash.
Does Child Labor Help Children in Poverty?
12 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply Tags: child labour
Tyler Cowen on Joseph Schumpeter
10 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, Joseph Schumpeter, survivor principle Tags: creative destruction
Why Capitalism is Better than Socialism
09 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, Marxist economics Tags: capitalism and freedom
Fossil fuels and The Great Escape
09 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economic history, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, growth miracles, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: China, energy poverty, extreme poverty, India, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape
PT Bauer on wealth and power
06 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, labour economics, liberalism, P.T. Bauer, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: wealth and power
Poverty halves in #LatinAm in last 10 years, @WBG_Poverty @WorldBank still grumbling
05 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, poverty and inequality
The World Bank should enquire more as to why particular Latin countries succeeded while others did not and the economic systems employed in each.
#MiltonFriedman v. @berniesanders
05 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, minimum wage, occupational choice, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: 2016 presidential election, Leftover Left
Deirdre McCloskey on the importance of paying attention to what happened under the jackboot of neoliberalism
05 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, development economics, economic history, economics of regulation, income redistribution, liberalism, Marxist economics
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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