Political battles historically have been framed as contests between left-wing and right-wing ideologies, with clear distinctions based on policy preferences and socio-economic class interests. However, contemporary political dynamics reveal a new axis of conflict: the division between the educated and the uneducated. This emerging distinction marks a significant departure from traditional political alignments, reshaping electoral […]
Uneducated vs educated
Uneducated vs educated
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, international economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Brexit, British politics, political psychology
Cultural Apartheid
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, health economics, human capital, income redistribution, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Muriel Newman writes – King’s Counsel Gary Judd has been at the forefront of a battle to defend New Zealand from the actions of Maori tribal leaders attempting to force their cultural apartheid onto our country. He’s defending the Rule of Law from attack by those pushing for ‘decolonisation’ by arguing that since ‘tikanga’ is an ‘amorphous […]
Cultural Apartheid
Now it’s Trump vs. the Smithsonian, and a NYT piece about human races
03 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
On March 17 Trump issued a new executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” And its goal is largely to prevent the dissemination of divisive or negative views of American history, instantiated, for Trump, in the Smithsonian Institution’s new exhibit on sculpture and identity. Here’s the “purpose” of the EO: Purpose and Policy. […]
Now it’s Trump vs. the Smithsonian, and a NYT piece about human races
Science, girls and women win
31 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, sports economics Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
World Athletics is supporting female sport: It sounds so simple that you wonder if there’s something you’ve misunderstood. In order to “doggedly protect the female category”, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has announced that his organisation will become the first to introduce cheek swabs or dry blood tests to verify an athlete’s biological sex. These are […]
Science, girls and women win
Minimal gender wage gap in NZ!
30 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, econometerics, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality Tags: gender wage gap, sex discrimination
Personality traits and gender gaps
30 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: gender wage gap
This paper examines the effects of the Big Five personality traits on labor market outcomes and gender wage gaps using a job search and bargaining model with parameters that vary at the individual level. The analysis, based on German panel data, reveals that both cognitive and noncognitive traits significantly influence wages and employment outcomes. Higher […]
Personality traits and gender gaps
Erick Erickson on the culture wars
29 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of media and culture, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left
Erick Erickson writes: The press and left call the right “culture warriors,” but we were not the ones who put pornographic material in elementary schools. We were not the ones who demanded kids in colleges attend seminars to learn about their inner racism. We were not the ones who demanded boys get into girls sports. […]
Erick Erickson on the culture wars
Climate change can teach children about race, national curriculum review told
28 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of climate change, economics of education, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: British politics, climate activists, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
By Paul Homewood h/t Ian Cunningham Proof that the climate agenda was never really about climate: From the Telegraph: Climate change can be used to teach children about race, a national curriculum review has been told. Global warming should be used to allow teachers and pupils to “explore conversations about […]
Climate change can teach children about race, national curriculum review told
People Barely Care About Equality
27 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of education, human capital, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: regressive left
Another simple proof.
People Barely Care About Equality
Facial surgeons wanted in New Zealand, must be intimately familiar with all things Māori
26 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, health economics, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand Tags: political correctness. affirmative action, racial discrimination, regressive left
Here’s an archived link to an ad for a consultant oral maxillofacial surgeon at Dunedin Hospital. The curious thing—well, not so curious given that it’s New Zealand,—is the list of required qualifications. Click to read (a New Zealand dollar is worth about 57¢ in U.S. currency): Some of the details: About the role In this […]
Facial surgeons wanted in New Zealand, must be intimately familiar with all things Māori
Who believes in conspiracy theories?
26 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, health economics Tags: cognitive psychology, conspiracy theorists, political psychology
While the psychological dispositions that underlie conspiracy thinking are well researched, there has been remarkably little research on the political preferences of conspiracy believers that go beyond self-reported ideology or single political issue dimensions. Using data from the European Voter Election Study (EVES), the relationship between conspiracy thinking and attitudes on three deeper-lying and salient […]
Who believes in conspiracy theories?
Exposing the out of control deep state in NZ
26 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, environmental economics, health economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: housing affordability, land supply, nanny state, political correctness, regressive left, zoning
The NZ version of the deep state appears to be the NZ Public Health Service. They regards themselves as having a divine right to opine on every issue of the day from capitalism to building design. They have been allowed to do this for far too long, and it is great to see the Minister […]
Exposing the out of control deep state in NZ
What does India want – and what is New Zealand willing to give?
25 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of education, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economic law, international economics, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: India, preferential trade agreements
Chris Trotter writes – What does India want from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. Indeed 45 percent of the Indian population are small-scale farmers, most of them running a few head of cattle – not to eat, you understand – but to milk. If it once […]
What does India want – and what is New Zealand willing to give?
The curse of knowledge
25 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in economics of education, health and safety, human capital, occupational choice Tags: cognitive psychology, educational psychology
The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when someone, possessing knowledge or expertise on a particular topic, struggles to imagine or communicate with others who lack the same understanding or information. Essentially, once we know something, it’s very hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it. How it manifests: Why it happens: […]
The curse of knowledge
A great new research paper
25 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of crime, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Jerry Coyne has found a wonderful new research paper. The abstract is: This article offers a queer lesbian feminist analysis attuned to lesbian-queer-trans-canine relationalities. Specifically, the article places queer and lesbian ecofeminism in conversation with Donna Haraway’s work on the cyborg and companion species to theorize the interconnected queer becomings of people, nature, animals, and […]
A great new research paper
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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