Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
14 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, economics of regulation, macroeconomics Tags: European Union
Since I’m currently in Europe as part of the Free Market Road Show, I’m going to share some more data (for other examples, see here, here, here, and here) on why the United States should not become more like Europe. As I noted a few years ago, people in the United States enjoy much higher levels […]
Don’t Copy Europe
14 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: China, Indonesia
11 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, economic history, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust, World War II
The above photograph is from October 1938 of Lindbergh receiving a Silver Cross from Herman Göring, the then-second-highest Nazi official. Below is part of the timeline of the Holocaust up to that point. 1933January 30Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany March 22Dachau concentration camp opens April 1Boycott of Jewish shops and businesses April 7Laws […]
Lindbergh’s Loyalties
09 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in Adam Smith, applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history
TweetIn today’s National Post I celebrate the 250th anniversary – which is this coming Monday, March 9th – of the publication of Adam Smith’s An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. A slice: Smith then inquired into wealth’s causes. He didn’t inquire into the causes of poverty. Smith understood that…
The Wealth of Nations: Happy 250th Birthday!
07 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, entrepreneurship, fiscal policy, income redistribution, liberalism, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
Is it time to pack our belongings and head to Argentina, where Javier Milei is dramatically improving economic policy and cultural attitudes? I’m joking, but also not joking. The reason I’m not joking is that there’s a very depressing scenario for America’s near-term economic outlook. It involves these six potential developments. Thanks in part to […]
The Nightmare Scenario Leading to a Wealth Tax
06 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, organisational economics, politics - Australia, technological progress, theory of the firm Tags: competition law, creative destruction
Ask anyone in Australia’s competition law community what transformed the economy, and you will hear a familiar story. Australia was once a cartelised, complacent place where businesses divided up markets and consumers paid the price. Then came the Trade Practices Act in 1974, and competition law forced firms to compete. This is not a fringe […]
Dismantling the competition myth
05 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, transport economics, war and peace Tags: World War II
At the start of World War II, the US economy relied almost exclusively on imported rubber as the key material for making, among other things, tires for cars and airplanes. The dependency was well-known, but in April 1942, when Japan cut off the foreign supply, the US was unprepared. Synthetic rubber ended up being part…
When Rubber Was the Critical Imported Good
03 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, gender, labour economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, Iran, sex discrimination
I put something like this up years ago, but it’s a good way to see, with just a few clicks, what happened to Iran after the “Revolution”. Let’s taken women’s dress, a touchstone of misogyny and theocratic oppression. Before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, it was a pretty free country in that respect, and everyone…
Iranian women: 1970 vs. 2020
02 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, history of economic thought, international economics Tags: free trade, tariffs
We study the macroeconomic effects of tariff policy using U.S. historical data from 1840–2024. We construct a narrative series of plausibly exogenous tariff changes – based on major legislative actions, multilateral negotiations, and temporary surcharges – and use it as an instrument to identify a structural tariff shock. Tariff increases are contractionary: imports fall sharply,…
The Macroeconomic Effects of Tariffs
01 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
I write this as a descendant of Henry Williams, who arrived here in 1823 as an ex Royal Navy officer and Head of the Church Missionary Society of New Zealand. He translated the Treaty of Waitangi into te reo Maori in 1840. The document he prepared with his eldest son Edward, on the evening of […]
The Treaty – Drowning in a sea of misinformation in 2026
27 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics, war and peace Tags: Nazi Germany, The Holocaust racial discrimination, World War II
Ashley Church writes: The Holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers of Auschwitz or Treblinka. It began much earlier, with ideas, laws, exclusions, and the slow normalisation of cruelty. The part that history often forgets. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, there was no plan to exterminate the Jews. What did exist…
The history of anti-semitism
26 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of information, economics of media and culture, history of economic thought, industrial organisation
It is not often I am speechless but that is exactly what I was when I saw some of these advertisements and products from days of yore. You would not get away with it by today’s standards. Vintage newspaper ad for heroin Who doesn’t like a bit of cocaine on their candy. Stay fit and […]
The bizarre world of Advertising
24 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
I’m a big fan of tax migration. I cheer when productive people escape high-tax states or high-tax nations. And when the geese with the golden eggs fly away, it thwarts the plans of greedy politicians. The latest example of this is the exodus of billionaires – worried about a wealth tax – from California (the […]
Is There a Political Downside to Tax Migration?
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, economic history, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, survivor principle
In Part I and Part II of this series, we looked at research showing that Americans are bearing the burden of Trump’s trade taxes. Those findings are a useful antidote to Trump’s silly and illiterate claim that foreign companies are swallowing the added cost. In both of those columns, however, I pointed out that I’m […]
The Economic Burden of Protectionism, Part III
19 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: economics of colonialism, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
There are many courses in universities that seem not to be exercises in objective teaching and learning, but rather courses designed to foist certain political ideologies or points of view on students. One of them at this university was called to my attention by several in our community; it seems to be a course on…
A course of indoctrination at the University of Chicago
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
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
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
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
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
Recent Comments