By Andy May Renee Hannon (@hannon_renee) pointed out that Raphael Neukom, et al. (2019) compares the modern instrumental temperature record to the Pages2K proxy temperature record and declares that: “… we find that the coldest epoch of the last millennium—the putative Little Ice Age—is most likely to have experienced the coldest temperatures during the fifteenth […]
Sorry, the Little Ice Age Does Exist
Sorry, the Little Ice Age Does Exist
26 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, environmental economics, global warming
How good was Paul Samuelson’s macroeconomics?
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, history of economic thought, macroeconomics, Milton Friedman, monetary economics Tags: monetary policy, wage and price controls
Reading the new Nicholas Wapshott book and also Krugman’s review (NYT) of it, it all seemed a little too rosy to me. So I went back and took a look at Paul Samuelson the macroeconomist. I regret that I cannot report any good news, in fact Samuelson was downright poor — you might say awful […]
How good was Paul Samuelson’s macroeconomics?
Government Intervention and Relative Prices
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, macroeconomics

I periodically share Mark Perry’s famous “Chart of the Century” to show that government intervention is a recipe for rising relative prices.* Since economic principles don’t change when you cross national borders, one might expect to see similar patterns in other countries. And we do. Here’s a chart from Matthew Lesh of the Institute for […]
Government Intervention and Relative Prices
On price control
25 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, income redistribution, industrial organisation, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: price controls, The fatal conceit, unintended consequences, utility regulation
Arrant misconceptions about the war and Israel
24 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, International law, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
One thing that bothers me about the war between Hamas and Israel is the large number of manifestly dumb beliefs that pervade the discourse. This is also true about Israel itself. Here’s a list of a few, all them wrong and all of them easily refuted. A two-state “solution” will end Palestinian terrorism towards Israel […]
Arrant misconceptions about the war and Israel
In 1900, when most U.S. women baked their own bread and did the laundry by hand, maintaining a home was a full-time job.
24 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of love and marriage, gender, labour economics, law and economics Tags: The Great Enrichment
Bari Weiss interviews Roland Fryer
22 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice, politics - USA, poverty and inequality Tags: academic bias, crime and punishment, free speech, law and order, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
A lot of readers and heterodox colleagues have sent me this link to Bari Weiss’s interview with Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr., often accompanied by big encomiums. Despite my unwillingness to watch long videos, I did watch all 77 minutes of it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t mesmerized, or even much interested. There are interesting […]
Bari Weiss interviews Roland Fryer
Changing times
21 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, population economics Tags: Australia, economics of languages

Brian Christopher Jones: Nigel Farage and the UK Constitution
20 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, currency unions, economic history, law and economics, macroeconomics Tags: British constitutional law, British politics, European Union

The upheaval of the UK constitution from 2016 onwards has been associated with a host of individuals, from David Cameron to Boris Johnson to Dominic Cummings, who have received the significant bulk of academic attention in recent years. And yet, another individual has had a substantial impact upon the UK constitution during this time: Nigel […]
Brian Christopher Jones: Nigel Farage and the UK Constitution
RODNEY HIDE interviews PROF PAUL MOON
19 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, International law, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law

PROF PAUL MOON: Historian and Author: On His Review of The Human Rights Commission’s ‘Maranga Mai’ Report on ‘The Doctrine of Discovery’ Paul Moon joins Rodney to discuss his review of the Human Rights Commission’s ‘Maranga Mai’ report on ‘The Doctrine of Discovery’. Listen here You can read Paul’s review on ‘The Doctrine of Discovery’…
RODNEY HIDE interviews PROF PAUL MOON
John Tamihere – Why did he change?
18 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: New Zealand, racial discrimination
Roads over the centuries
15 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, transport economics Tags: Roman empire
February 13, 1542: Execution of Catherine Howard, Queen of England and Ireland. Part II
15 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics Tags: British history
Letter from Catherine Howard to Thomas Culpeper During the investigation a love letter written in the Queen’s distinctive handwriting was found in Culpeper’s chambers. This is the only letter of hers that has survived (other than her later “confession”). On All Saints’ Day, November 1, 1541, the King arranged to be found praying in the […]
February 13, 1542: Execution of Catherine Howard, Queen of England and Ireland. Part II






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