A few months ago, a high school econ student asked me to zoom with his class. I’m working against a tight deadline for Blockade, so I was inclined to decline. But the student’s list of questions was so ambitious that I decided to make the time. See for yourself:Here is the plan:- 5 minutes -WELCOME…
Economics is Counter-Emotional, Not Counter-Intuitive
Economics is Counter-Emotional, Not Counter-Intuitive
30 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of education, economics of information, history of economic thought, Public Choice
An evolutionary biologist lists and discusses the ten most influential books in the field
22 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
I would have missed this video had reader Doug not called my attention to it. It’s a very good half-hour discussion by evolutionary biologist Zach B. Hancock, a professor at Augusta University, in which he recommends the the top ten most influential books in evolutionary biology. Since Hancock is a population geneticist, the books deal…
An evolutionary biologist lists and discusses the ten most influential books in the field
Does this have implications for higher ed in particular?
20 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, population economics
Declining fertility and population loss pose significant challenges for state and federal local governments responsible for providing a range of services to citizens, including education, health care, and infrastructure. Indeed, many areas are already experiencing outright population decline, with roughly half of U.S. counties losing population between 2010 and 2020. This paper examines how shrinking…
Does this have implications for higher ed in particular?
The Barnham Effect
12 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: personality psychology
The Barnum effect is the tendency for people to accept vague, general personality descriptions as if they were specifically true of them. For example, if someone reads: “You sometimes doubt whether you have made the right decision, but you also have a strong independent streak.” many people feel that it describes them personally, even though it could describe a […]
The Barnham Effect
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
12 Apr 2026 1 Comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science, regressive left
As always, an Aussie who wishes to remain anonymous sent me this link, and noted that New Zealand isn’t the only country in the Antipodes that tries to make science (again “Western science”) coequal with indigenous knowledge. Clicking on the screenshot below will take you to the strategy developed by the Aussie government: the “Australian…
Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
11 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, Karl Popper, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, Freedom of religion, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In 1633, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo for heresy. His offence was to argue that the Earth moves around the Sun. The Church was not acting out of malice. It was protecting a politically approved consensus against what was considered to be dangerous nonsense. The theologians and philosophers who condemned Galileo were not fools. They […]
What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing
Why “Gini Coefficients” Are Meaningless
09 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, entrepreneurship, financial economics, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality
I created the 8th Theorem of Government because it’s important to distinguish between people who want to help the poor and people who want to punish the rich. The former group has good motives while the latter group has ignoble motivations. Envy (common among the leftist intelligentsia) Public choice (common among leftist politicians) Zero-sum illiteracy […]
Why “Gini Coefficients” Are Meaningless
Two “Times” obituaries for Robert Trivers
08 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
Reader Simon called my attention to a new obituary in the Times of London of Robert Trivers, a giant in evolutionary biology (and a notorious eccentric) who died on March 12. Because his death wasn’t announced immediately after he expired, this was bit late, but better late than never—especially given Trivers’s importance in the field. […]
Two “Times” obituaries for Robert Trivers
More touting of indigenous knowledge as coequal with modern science
08 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science, regressive left
Once again we have an article about how science could be improved if only it incorporated indigenous “ways of knowing”—the “braiding of knowledge” referred to in the Guardian article below (click to read). I often see another metaphor used to express the same thing: “two-eyed seeing”, with one eye seeing the way indigenous people do,…
More touting of indigenous knowledge as coequal with modern science
Martin Cruz Smith reviews
01 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture
Martin Cruz Smith (1942 to 2025) was a prolific author of mystery and suspense fiction, publishing over 30 novels. He was best known for his 11-book series featuring Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was introduced in 1981 with ‘Gorky Park’ and last appeared in ‘Hotel Ukraine’. ‘Gorky Park’ was made into a successful Hollywood movie […]
Martin Cruz Smith reviews
Now The Atlantic touts religion—or rather, beliefs that don’t need evidence
30 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of religion Tags: Freedom of religion
I’ve been posting from time to time about how the mainstream media is suddenly touting religion and its benefits—a phenomenon I don’t fully understand. Now The Atlantic has joined the queue with an article by Elizabeth Bruenig, who’s written for the magazine for 6 years, and before that for the NYT, the WaPo, and the…
Now The Atlantic touts religion—or rather, beliefs that don’t need evidence
The Rushdie fatwa
30 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, law and economics, liberalism Tags: free speech
Jonathan Rosen writes: Thirty-seven years ago, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, sentenced Salman Rushdieto death on Valentine’s Day for writing a novel. It is hard to write that sentence without feeling it is a parody of the opening line of Franz Kafka’s The Trial: “Someone must have slandered Josef K.,…
The Rushdie fatwa
Indigenous “ways of knowing” invade Canadian science classes
29 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, Canada, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
I’ve spent a lot of time pushed many electrons going after the fallacy in New Zealand that indigenous “ways of knowing”—in this case from the Māori—are just as valid as so-called “Western ways of knowing,” which is what Kiwi progressives call “science”. You can see my pieces here, but there are many. This sacralization of…
Indigenous “ways of knowing” invade Canadian science classes
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 7
28 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, libertarianism, Murray Rothbard, Public Choice Tags: signaling
SummaryIn this chapter, Rothbard makes the case for the abolition of public schooling. While he somewhat surprisingly views Friedman’s voucher system as “a great improvement over the present system in permitting a wider range of parental choice and enabling the abolition of the public school system,” Rothbard will settle for nothing less than the separation…
Bet On It Book Club: For a New Liberty, Chapter 7
Frederick Forsyth reviews
26 Mar 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of education
Frederick Forsyth (1938 to 2025) was an English novelist and journalist. He’s best known for the string of meticulously researched popular thrillers he wrote in a 30-year career between the early 70s and the early Noughties. He wrote 14 novels in total, none of them as good as the debut, his first and best novel […]
Frederick Forsyth reviews
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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