We should not assume that all adopted innovations are progressive. Jonathon Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’ illustrates that sometimes they require social measures to enhance well being. Brian Easton writes – The Anxious Generation is a book which probably everyone engaging with adolescents should read. Haidt’s thesis is that smartphones replacing flip phones led to a marked […]
Is Progress Progressive?
Is Progress Progressive?
14 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, economics of regulation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: pessimism bias, The Great Enrichment
UChicago Professor Denounces School as an “Evil” and “Colonialist” Institution . . . But Wants to Stay
13 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: regressive left
While universities have largely purged their faculty ranks of conservatives, there often seems to be no academic who is too far left for hiring committees. The latest example is University of Chicago Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Eman Abdelhadi, who used her appearance at the Socialism 2025 conference to denounce UChicago as “evil” […]
UChicago Professor Denounces School as an “Evil” and “Colonialist” Institution . . . But Wants to Stay
The Supply And Demand Game
11 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, economics of education, history of economic thought
I played it in each class I taught. A former colleague taught it to me many years ago. As far as I know, I use the game invented by Edward Chamberlin and refined by Vernon Smith. Click here to see the Lessons From the Supply and Demand Game. Or just read it all here. Part…
The Supply And Demand Game
A story the media ignored
08 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, rentseeking
David Farrar writes – The Taxpayers’ Union revealed: The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Te Wharekura o Tauranga Moana is set to take staff to Tahiti this Friday and refuses to answer basic questions to justify the spend.
A story the media ignored
Massive Rent-Seeking in India’s Government Job Examination System
03 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, growth disasters, growth miracles, labour economics, occupational choice, personnel economics, Public Choice Tags: India
In India, government jobs pay far more than equivalent jobs in the private sector–so much so that the entire labor market and educational system have become grossly distorted by rent seeking to obtain these jobs. Teachers in the public sector, for example, are paid at least five times more than in the private sector. It’s […]
Massive Rent-Seeking in India’s Government Job Examination System
“The End Goal of Seizing the Means of Production”: Yup, Mamdani is a Hardcore Marxist
03 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice
Below is my column on Fox.com on the debate that Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is a socialist, a Democratic Socialist, or a communist. What is clear is that Mamdani is a Marxist and that is a serious problem for New York. Here is the column:
“The End Goal of Seizing the Means of Production”: Yup, Mamdani is a Hardcore Marxist
A interview with a “heterodox” New Zealand scientist: “Why Mātauranga Māori Isn’t Science:”
02 Jul 2025 1 Comment
in economic history, economics of education, environmentalism, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Rawls and Nozick Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, cranks, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
I’ve written a lot about the controversy in New Zealand involving whether the indigenous “way of knowing,” Mātauranga Māori (MM), is equivalent to modern science (often called “Western science”) and, as many maintain, should be taught alongside modern in science classes (see all my posts here). As I’ve noted, because MM does have elements of […]
A interview with a “heterodox” New Zealand scientist: “Why Mātauranga Māori Isn’t Science:”
The End is Nigh: Liberal Justices Predict “Chaos” and the Demise of Public Education Without Mandatory LGBTQ Material
30 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of religion, politics - USA
Below is my column in The Hill on the ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor in favor of parents who want to withdraw their children from LGBTQ lessons in public schools. I agreed with the majority, but it was Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent (joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson) that was the most striking in its […]
The End is Nigh: Liberal Justices Predict “Chaos” and the Demise of Public Education Without Mandatory LGBTQ Material
Greg Mankiw on Modern Monetary Theory
30 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, economics of education, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, monetary economics Tags: cranks, monetary policy
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) had a real moment in the spotlight in the late 2010s, with political support in the US from Presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. However, mainstream economists mostly didn’t understand it, or ridiculed it, or both. I mostly ignored the detail of it, only picking up what I knew about it from…
Greg Mankiw on Modern Monetary Theory
The Icarian Gene: The Rise and Fall of the Expert Class
27 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
The warning was stark. At issue was a privileged class that has long dictated policy despite countervailing public opinion. At issue, the luminary warned, is nothing short of democracy itself. No, it was not the continued rallies of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., VT) to “fight oligarchy.” It was Justice Clarence Thomas rallying his colleagues to […]
The Icarian Gene: The Rise and Fall of the Expert Class
Nice summary
26 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: conjecture and refutation, cranks, philosophy of science
San Diego State University Professor Celebrates Israeli Being Eaten by Shark
01 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left
A San Diego State University professor is under fire this week after celebrating the death of a former Israeli soldier who was eaten by a shark. Chicano studies Professor Roberto Hernández joyfully reported the death and mocked the victim as others joined him in the macabre celebration.
San Diego State University Professor Celebrates Israeli Being Eaten by Shark
Poison Ivy: Why Harvard Will Likely Lose a War of Attrition with the Trump Administration
29 May 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, politics - USA Tags: racial discrimination
Below is my column on Fox.com on the escalating fight between Harvard and the Trump Administration. For Harvard, this could prove a case of winning battles and losing a war of attrition. Here is the column:
Poison Ivy: Why Harvard Will Likely Lose a War of Attrition with the Trump Administration
An interesting paper about the first 50 years of Nobel Prize winners in economics
23 May 2025 1 Comment
in economics of education, history of economic thought
The first Nobel Prize in economics was awarded in 1969, to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen. The fiftieth prize was awarded in 2018, to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer. In total up to that point, there had been 91 Nobel laureates in economics. This 2019 article by Allen Sanderson (University of Chicago) and John Siegfried (Vanderbilt…
An interesting paper about the first 50 years of Nobel Prize winners in economics
Once again, pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Chicago violate campus rules but don’t get punished
19 May 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left
If you’ve read about the various pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests across American campuses, one thing you’ll notice is a general reluctance to punish demonstrators when they violate university rules. Of course protests are usually fine if they conform to First Amendment principles (though some schools don’t hold those principles), but they’re never fine when they […]
Once again, pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Chicago violate campus rules but don’t get punished
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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