A quarter century ago, economist Price Fishback published “Operations of ‘Unfettered’ Labor Markets: Exit and Voice in American Labor Markets at the Turn of the Century” 1,762 more words
Unfettered: Fishback 25 Years Later
Unfettered: Fishback 25 Years Later
04 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, discrimination, economic history, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, unemployment, unions Tags: racial discrimination
The Big Lie Behind DEI
04 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
Below is an article describing how the woke industry started and expanded by advancing a fundamental lie about human happiness and social fairness. The image above calls attention to the notion that sorts individuals into classes and attributes inequalities in status or prosperity to oppression by others. The lie is that any disappointment or disadvantage […]
The Big Lie Behind DEI
MICHAEL REDDELL: Not very bothered by deficits
03 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic history, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, monetary economics, politics - New Zealand
I was away last week so have been rather late in getting to the Budget Policy Statement and associated material released last Wednesday. It does not make for pleasant reading, at least if one cares at all about governments not borrowing to pay for the groceries. Once upon a time – still not that long…
MICHAEL REDDELL: Not very bothered by deficits
Three cheers for the Green Party mayor!
02 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, urban economics Tags: zoning
Anthony Willy on the SOE case and partnership fiction
01 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: constitutional law
Former Judge and barrister Anthony Willy has an excellent post on the famous SOE case which is held up to have decided that the Treaty of Waitangi was a partnership. He demolishes this argument by quoting, well the actual judgment. The case was about acting in good faith. Well worth a read.
Anthony Willy on the SOE case and partnership fiction
The State of the Climate 2023 (GWPF) – evidence of crisis not observed
01 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: climate alarmism
The summary remarks: ‘There is no visible effect of the global COVID-19 lockdown 2020–2021 in the atmospheric concentration. The increasing amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide is enhancing photosynthesis and thereby global crop yields.’ – – – London, 28 March — In his annual review of the state of the global climate, Professor Ole Humlum reviews […]
The State of the Climate 2023 (GWPF) – evidence of crisis not observed
MICHAEL BASSETT: LABOUR’S CRIME LEGACY OF THE LAST THREE YEARS
31 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, labour economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The Labour Government lost the 2023 election when its support halved from 2020. It deserved to lose on economic grounds alone. Covid lockdowns that went beyond the prudent and wrecked livelihoods in the name of saving lives; an orgy of careless spending of borrowed money; and a failure to ensure that the 16,000 extra bureaucrats…
MICHAEL BASSETT: LABOUR’S CRIME LEGACY OF THE LAST THREE YEARS
Productivity Syndrome and the Investment Prescription
30 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic growth, economic history, growth miracles, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics
Economic productivity is about growing the size of the pie. I sometimes point out that no matter what your goal–spending increases, tax cuts, greater support for the poor, environmental protection–that goal is easier when the economic pie is growing. When the economic pie isn’t growing, after all, then all priorities have to pit potential winners…
Productivity Syndrome and the Investment Prescription
Q&A: Allis and Ronald Radosh
27 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, politics - USA Tags: Israel
NZ’s problem is too much spending, not a lack of tax
26 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, economic history, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, public economics
Labour and Greens in 2017 campaigned on capping core crown expenditure at no more than 30% of GDP. This was their election pledge. At one Budget I asked Grant Robertson about the policy and he (admirably) replied it was a limit, not a target. The latest forecast had expenditure at 33.4% of GDP. That 3.4% […]
NZ’s problem is too much spending, not a lack of tax
ROGER PARTRIDGE: HOW TO REIN IN AN ACTIVIST SUPREME COURT
22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, rule of law
My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament should not hesitate to take. But first a quick recap. The…
ROGER PARTRIDGE: HOW TO REIN IN AN ACTIVIST SUPREME COURT
100 Years of Rent Control in Sweden
17 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, income redistribution, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: rent control, Sweden
Bet On It reader Vanja Månborg knows a lot about rent control in Sweden. If you think Sweden is a country of thoughtful technocrats where government intervention works well, reading his guest post may make you think again. Here’s Vanja:Sweden has had rent control regulations since 1917 with less than two decades of pause between…
100 Years of Rent Control in Sweden
The Tsar Abdicates – Baghdad Falls I THE GREAT WAR Week 138
16 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, war and peace Tags: Russian revolution, World War I
An Open Letter to Nobel-laureate Economist Angus Deaton
13 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, entrepreneurship, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle, unemployment Tags: creative destruction, free trade, tariffs
TweetProf. Angus Deaton Princeton University Prof. Deaton: Over the years I’ve learned much from your writings, and I regard your 2013 The Great Escape as one of the most important books published in the past 15 years. So I was quite surprised and disappointed to read that you, as you say, are now “much more…
An Open Letter to Nobel-laureate Economist Angus Deaton
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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